Mumbai TVs blank as cable firms strike over nudity
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Cable television distribution firms in India’s entertainment capital of Mumbai have suspended services following a row with police over erotic content on TV channels, industry officials and police said on Tuesday.
Cable covers almost three million homes in the teeming city, of the 3.3 million with a television set.
The firms struck late on Monday complaining that they were being harassed by policemen trying to enforce a court order banning sexually provocative programmes on TV.
The police action came after the Bombay High Court rapped them last week for not complying with its order delivered last year asking them to prevent such content on television.
Police raided the offices of nine cable distributors on Monday and seized transmission equipment and decoders on charges that they had violated the court order…
Last year’s court order came in response to a petition by a Mumbai resident which said erotic content on TV was corrupting society and polluting young minds.
Adult entertainment and pornography are illegal in India and are not shown on cable TV. But hardcore magazines and videos are easily available in underground markets in most cities.
Last year’s court petition targeted semi-nudity and steamy scenes in mainstream Hollywood cinema, titillating music videos and fashion programmes shown by cable channels.
“There was a court order against adult programmes on TV. We are enforcing the order,” said a Mumbai police officer.
Let’s hope that American regulators don’t take a page from the Indian authorities as they approach the issue of cable TV programming for adults! As this article from Khaleej Times out of Dubai makes clear, the themes of censorship are certainly similar.
It’s amusing, in a way… “Bollywood” films (centered in Mumbai, the former Bombay) can be really raunchy, just without the nudity. The “wet sari” numbers, seemingly required in all blockbuster (or is that “bust buster”) films coming out of Mumbai leave very little to the imagination. But maybe that little bit is just enough…
