Politics, Sensitivity Lead India To Rush To Ban Books, Films

"Religious communities, ethnic groups, historical figures are all off-limits," says Shiv Vishvanathan, a social scientist at O.P. Jindal Global University. The most recent example of what Vishvanathan calls "India's ban epidemic" took place last week when the government halted the screening of "India's Daughter," a British documentary on a 2012 gang rape, an attack so brutal that it sent shock waves through this nation long inured to violence against women. Santosh Desai, a social commentator and newspaper columnist, said that instead of tackling serious issues such as sexual violence, the government often turns ostrich-like, banning attempts to provoke discussion. While the constitution protects the right to freedom of expression, the country's penal code threatens up to three years' imprisonment against those who appear to act with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings. Indian intellectuals reacted with outrage and condemnation in the aftermath of the jihadist attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, but few show support when books and artists are banned in India, largely because they know the state often won't step in to protect them. India's film censor board rejected the erotic drama "Fifty Shades of Grey," and Hollywood movies that do appear on Indian screens are routinely scrubbed of sex scenes. Within weeks of the Jan.