Relax dont let the conservative nationalism (and also rightwing) create a fear of impropriety

The Telegraph
May 28, 2009

Editorial

GUARD THE SONG

Must a nation always take itself dead seriously? And should every element in the ritual of nationhood be absolutely beyond irony or humour? Indian law seems to answer both questions with a rather firm yes, and has pulled up Ram Gopal Varma for “tinkering” with the national anthem in his forthcoming film. Bringing one’s right to freedom of speech and expression to this particular song would amount to disrespectful, and therefore unlawful, tinkering. Hence the censor board has unilaterally refused to clear Mr Varma’s adaptation of Janaganamana. So, the only thing one can do with the anthem is to stand up and sing it exactly as it has been written. This puts the song not only above any kind of creative freedom, but also above international copyright law, for the copyright on the songs of Rabindranath Tagore has expired in 2001. But when it comes to this song by Tagore, the National Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act forbids any liberties.

It is surely the sign of a modern and mature democracy that it can play with its rituals and symbols within the limits of civilized behaviour, and that these limits do not harden into the absolutely upheld letter of the law. The Indian nation does tend to take an inflexibly earnest view of what may or may not be done with its icons and emblems. This piety is usually directed at the national flag. A great deal of judicial time has been expended, for instance, in preventing someone from making a cocktail dress out of the tricolour. The common British practice of wearing Union Jack boxer-shorts would horrify most patriotic Indians, who find it impossible to imagine that there can be an entire spectrum of innocuous playfulness between proper and improper when it comes to the use of national emblems and names. There are Indians who have taken great offence at people refusing to stand up in a cinema-hall when the national anthem had come on as part of the action of the film that they were watching. A country that needs to be constantly, zealously and sometimes comically on guard against its flag, anthem or hallowed icons being used improperly could come across to the rest of the world as a rather insecure and humourless nation. The Indian democracy is old enough now to be able to relax into a bit of unseriousness without the fear of impropriety.