Banning spree: Are condoms next in line?

By Ridham Gambhir

When a comment blaming something as basic and necessary as condom is used as a reason for inciting rapes, one knows that such a bizarre comment can come only from our Indian politicians.

Today, ex-DCW chief Barkha Singh has made headlines by the virtue of her statement that Manforce condom ads featuring Sunny Leone are "disgusting and dirty" and ought to be banned by the government.

Singh's contemplation on such advertisements didn't stop with words such as "dirty" and "disgusting"; she went on to say, "the shabby, ugly or immoral way the actress seduces or sexually provokes a man in the advertisement to use condoms is nothing but serving immorality and bad practice to the audience of the country which is not acceptable in a country of moral values, ethics, religious values and spiritualism renowned as abode of gods around the globe."

Her statements put stress on the sacredness of India and its rich cultural heritage. However, Singh has forgotten the fact that this nation of "religious values and spiritualism" is the author of Kama Sutra, a witness of the heinous December 16 rape case and a lot many after it.

She records that India is a country of moral values and renowned as an "abode of gods" overlooking the historical Khajurao temples which are embellished with sexual carvings. Moreover, is the Congress leader being ignorant of the fact that India's huge population didn't fall from trees, the mechanism for it is sex which is an omnipresent reality.

Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association in conversation with NewsGram said: "Such a statement by Barkha Singh reflects her atrocious sexist attitude. If she is blaming a woman for her sensuality today, she might blame girls who wear short skirts/shorts for inciting men to rape them."

Singh is not alone when it comes to maintaining such thoughts. Atul Anjan, a senior CPI leader yesterday accused

Sunny Leone for her 'seductive demeanor ' and blames the 'obscenity' of the ad for misguiding men.

While Condom Bindaas Bol – (Say Condoms Freely), a campaign launched in India to encourage use of condoms won a United Nations award for excellence in campaigns, here we are snubbing and sidelining the entire concept of condom on the grounds that it is played out by a woman who has a history of working in porn movies and is now a part of the Bollywood industry.

Both these politicians reprove Sunny Leone for her 'eroticism' and the 'idea of sex' that is played out in the advert. So if a condom advert cannot talk about sex is it supposed to discuss Sensex and Nifty?

Ranveer Singh also campaigned for Durex condoms by popularizing the line "Do the rex". The former hasn't been accused of obscenity or vulgarity. Is case of a woman expressing her sexual desires so problematic that our eminent leaders want a ban over it?

Welcome to India! We want to decrease our population, but we want to ban condom advertisements. We rape our women but our country is an "abode of spirituality and religious values". Maggi banned, porn banned, India's Daughter banned. Is condom next in the hitlist?