From yesterday’s news, this
Police at Kankroli in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan have registered a first information report against Hindi film actress Rakhi Sawant on charges of indulging in obscenity by wearing a dress with the pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi printed all over it. …. The FIR has cited offences under several sections of Indian Penal Code and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act and the police have launched investigation.
From a few days earlier
The pub, located in Oberoi Mall, had a church-themed decor–Bible quotes and stained-glass paintings–that Christian activists found ‘blasphemous’ and protested against. As the protests took a serious turn, the pub’s management pulled down the decor to appease the infuriated Christian community…..filed an FIR at Dindoshi police station under Section 295A.
These are just the one’s i can easily find. There are more. Lots more. Many of my fellow citizens like being offended at things that they see and hear in the media, or experience in real life. Films, books, bar decor, clothes, people, photographs and more. Each week, i am amazed at people dedicated to finding offence at everyday things, then having the energy to act on that ‘feeling of offence’ … go to a cop station, file a FIR, talk to cameras, post on social media about the sense of being offended – create tiny little communities of the offended. And, keep those communities together till, nurturing the ‘sense of being offended’.
I am afraid, that while these people are exercising their constitutional rights – to being offended (section 295 of the IPC deals with this), the system is letting them down, by getting the same over worked criminal justice system, that is overloaded with completely mundane things like murder, rape, domestic violence, robbery etc.
Section 295, for the not normally offended, is this
Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.—Whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to their religion, shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Which just about covers everything from the Good Lord Almighty (in any religion) to your favourite film star, your favourite animal, colour, hill, drink — anything you hold to be sacred. For example, i won’t be terribly surprised if one day, the association of Old Monk and Thumps Up drinkers, gets offended at Old Monk and Pepsi drinkers, and accuse them of offending deep held beliefs and practices.
The police, i believe, are not particularly adept at handling touching feeling subjects like offence. They are trained for other things — evidence, people, paperwork, etc etc. Loading them with abstract tenses, not to mention belief sets, is just beyond their remit. And, they will fail, and in doing so deprive justice for those who have been offended.
Therefore, i would humbly suggest the setting up of a new department, that can both investigate, question, and adjudicate on offended feelings. The newly created Department of Offended Feelings will also be staffed by pass outs of the administrative service. And, here i propose a special exam — the IOS exams– the indian offence service exams. There can be lateral entry from distantly related wings of political parties, from people used to protesting ‘being offended’. Students unions, trade unions, and stone pelters can be given special consideration.
This does two things — one is it reduces the pressure on the police to investigate ‘hurt feelings’ and lets them finish their more mundane tasks, ie, fight crime; and second – more importantly – it opens up a new avenue of employment. If the government chose to charge per complaint investigated, it could be a self sustaining model. More over, i see an entire business ecosystem grow around the department of offended feelings– social media activation, ground events, social networking and even dating sites — imagine being able to bond over being offended.
It just requires all of us to marginally shift gears and think about the possibilities. What we need to realise is that people being offended is hear to stay. People whining about being offended is only going to grow. And people, bonding on ‘being offended’ is possibly the new killer app. Given that ‘offended feelings’ is a growing market, it is about time that the Government took proactive action and set up this new department.
(image, from here)