The Church is Going to Ask for More Bans

The way Catholic Church has reacted, the shameful manner in which AIB has apologized and the way the liberal Indian voices are so deafeningly muted – all point to one thing. Freedom of expression in India is clearly crafted as a one-way road.

Even the AIB apology has been found wanting by the Church-parivaar – a loose confederation of organizations that function under different names. The organization with an oxymoronic name ‘The Catholic-Christian Secular Forum’ (CSF) which also functions under the banner ‘Indian Christian Activist Network’ (ICAN) stated clearly in its statement dated February 10 that the Christian groups are “not satisfied with the shockingly lackadaisical response they received from the Mumbai police who refused to register an FIR against those involved in the All India Bakchod (AIB) for hurting religious sentiments of the community have decided to move the union government on the subject.“

They further revealed that Organizations like the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC), Maharashtra Christian Youth Forum (MCYF), CRUPA, CROSS, CPF and The CSF have been approaching the Mumbai police on a daily basis since the ‘controversy’ erupted  to take action against AIB.

Then there is the usual call from the CSF to send a drafted email to all higher authorities (with their emails provided) including the central home minister and Maharashtra Chief Minister to ‘act against all concerned with AIB’.

But interestingly the real target may not be AIB at all.

On January 2, 2015 ICAN has sent mass emails to its subscribers which screamed “Help Register an FIR, Investigate & Stop the above play…”

The play in question is ‘Missionary Position‘ by playwright Athena Ashton. The Indo-British play explores the destruction of indigenous spiritual traditions by organized Christian conversion and the abuse through the highly institutionalized religious structure of Christianity, which in India has been a throwback to their medieval versions.

Already staged in the West the play has received rave reviews from different quarters. For example ‘Theatre Review‘ called it a powerful expose of “Christian missionaries and their conversion and sexual predatory activities that has decimated most African and Latin American cultures and is now threatening the Chinese state after contaminating India.” Buddhist World magazine called it “a deep and profound play with huge political and cultural implications for several indigenous cultures that are now vanishing under the onslaught of a religion now almost defunct in Europe.”

Very naturally the Church would like to see the play banned when it will be released across theatres in Indian cities from April 2015 onwards. And the first screening has been proposed in Mumbai on 5th April 2015.

So AIB has come in as a handy testing of waters. Now a victory here with a total ban and action against the group, projecting it as a law and order problem, can be the perfect  queen’s gambit for stopping ‘The Missionary Position‘ even before it can get to the stage on its day one in India. The CSF has ended its January 2nd email with a fervent appeal:

“The CSF has urged the government to investigate immediately and take action against those responsible for putting out such hate material, which hurt the religious sentiments of Christians and all secular minded citizens.“

Perhaps it is only in India that you can ban plays when they “hurt the religious sentiments” of “Christians and all secular minded citizens” on one hand, while on the other hand every pretentious actor, evangelist and communist (even aliens from .pk) can mock and humiliate other faiths in full length feature movies.