That India is a democratic plural society with constitutionally granted right to free expression and right to legal remedies is perhaps the pertinent reason that has seen the rise of litigations over the years against celebrities of the country. The leader among the litigants probably is Raj Kumar Pandey who has filed 200 cases in the past 10 years accusing Indians of disrespecting the Indian national flag, filing cases against celebrities like the Tennis star Sania Mirza and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. In fact, with the rise in the number of controversies against her the Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza has decided not to play in India. Sania is not alone in the league of celebrities accused of misdemeanor but there are a number of actors and painters with litigations pending against them on charges of obscenity. Hollywood actor Richard Gere has also joined his Indian counterparts in a court battle rising out of his infamous kissing episode with Shilpa Shetty.

Rise of little known hardliners trying to garner popular support has seen orchestrated violence against artists belonging to India’s premium art schools including the celebrated MF Hussein. Recently an Indian movie Jodha-Akbar that portrays the historical relation between a Hindu Rajput princess and the Moghul ruler Akbar has seen angry protests from the Rajputs in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and parts of North India. A few years back there was protests organized in Gujarat against releasing a film of actor Aamir Khan since the actor was a supporter of the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ or the Save Narmada campaign that went against the interest of the people of Gujarat. Not only are the celebrities the targets of the protests but writers have also been unable to escape the ire of the self-appointed guardians of the Indian society. A fictional novel on Rani Laxmibai’s life has been banned in Uttar Pradesh following violent protests. The Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen was forced out of Kolkata following violent outbursts against anti-Islamic remarks in her novel. The writer had earlier faced violent demonstrations in a book release ceremony in Hyderabad. In another incident, fundamentalist groups had demanded Muslims to stop using Godrej products following the chairperson of the company hosting a party to which Salman Rushdie was invited. The litany of protests on a wide range of issues is continuing unabated without any sign of ebbing.

While most of these protests are unnecessary, but complete absence of any form of protest is not desirable in a democratic society. Unfortunately, the majority of the protests are a reflection of the growing sectarianism in the country. The compulsion of electoral politics has made these protests find easy sponsors from vested political interests. The rise in intolerance is increasingly making it difficult to sieve the important issues from the frivolous ones.

Source: Google
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