Jottings of the week: From child porn in Manga comics to #AwardWapsi

Child porn in Manga comics
Manga comics have attracted stringent criticism for their sexually abusive images of children. The United Nations special envoy on child protection Maud de Boer-Buquicchio has taken strong exception to such forms of pornographic content, and has urged Japan to immediately put an end to them. Though the country had passed a law in 2014 prohibiting child pornography, it had kept the extremely lucrative and popular manga comics, animated films and video games industries out of the ban’s ambit. The UN’s scathing observation has obviously not gone down well with the artists and publishers in Japan who perceive the ban to be an attack on freedom of expression. Boer-Buquicchio makes this point when she says, “I accept that the freedom of expression argument should prevail when it comes to adult pornography.” But, child pornography is non-negotiable and Japan’s lenient attitude ought to be replaced with the intent to pass a strict law that doesn’t allow the production and distribution of such content. Defending child pornography in the name of artistic expression and creativity is unacceptable. Lest we forget, there was a time when Japan was the only member country in the G7 where it was legal to own videos, photographs and other imagery depicting sexual crimes against children, provided the person doesn’t sell them or put them up on the internet.

Beefing up for health reasons
There is now a bizarre twist to the countrywide ban on cow slaughter and consumption of beef. In a Haryana education department magazine, which boasts of the patronage of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, a chapter titled ‘Iron: Vital for Strength’ waxes eloquent on how animal meat, including beef and veal (meat of young cows), directly affects absorption of iron in human body. The bilingual magazine, Shiksha Bharti, is printed and published by “President, Shiksha Lok Society-cum-Director, Secondary Education” from the office of Director, Secondary Education, Haryana, Panchkula. Haryana was the first state in the country to enact a law that punishes cow slaughter with a 10-year jail term. Khattar, whose foot-in-the-mouth disease has often landed him in trouble, recently courted controversy when he said that Muslims would have to give up eating beef if they want to live in India. It remains to be seen how Khattar would respond to the “goof-up” because this time it will be impossible to seek cover under the familiar refrain that his “comments have been distorted”.

Filmmakers return awards 
The stand-off between FTII students and I&B Ministry continues though now the young men and women of the film institute have decided to resume classes. Expressing solidarity with them and in protest against the growing intolerance in the country, 12 filmmakers have returned their awards on Wednesday. Among the dissenting filmmakers are Anand Patwardhan and Dibakar Banerjee. It is not a political decision, the filmmakers claim, but the issues against which they are protesting have had the nation on the boil. The killing of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and writer MM Kalburgi, the lynching of Mohammed Ikhlaq in Dadri and upper caste men burning two Dalit children alive in Haryana have rallied the larger community of artists, filmmakers, historians and even scientists. In an article written for a leading website, Patwardhan has succinctly summed up the situation: “On one side is the secular path that our freedom fighters laid out for us and on the other, the path towards majoritarian fascism that the present regime seems bent upon. I am not saying we are already a fascist state. I am saying that the early warning signs are unmistakable.” His reflective words are truly representative of the trying times we are living in!