In a Democracy, people are supposed to be amture & free to speak, to read & to choose what they want to buy, sell & own. without such freedoms the word has no meaning.
Some of us still harbour illusions that India is a democracy just because we elect our government (lord & masters?). However, for a democratic setup we do seem to have some pretty odd ways of demonstrating our commitment to the democratic ideals of freedom , justice & equality.
This is the latest wake-up call. The Indian government has decided to block blogs on Blogspot & Typepad. Further, as per CERT-IN’s Director, Dr Gulshan Rai, “Somebody must have blocked some sites. What is your problem?”
I guess I have nothing further to say!
This is so shameful and pathetic.
Dunno whether to laugh or cry on this, the problem with this measure is:
1. It shows how parochial the government’s view is on democracy
2. It will not really serve the purpose that government wants it to serve, coz bloggers will figure out a way to blog elsewhere. How many sites will the government ban like this….
Unless off course, they decide to ban internet altogether, and the only thing that surfers in India will be able to access is a “make believe” internet which will actually be the “Government of India Intranet” with feeds coming from “Government Certified and Approved” content creators.
Until now, I used to argue passionately against US’ narrow view of democracy in Iraq, Afghanistan, citing examples from how democracy works in India .. but now I will have to look for another case study of where democracy really works.
God save freedom of speech.
This is simply ridiculous! “Until now, I used to argue passionately against US’ narrow view of democracy in Iraq, Afghanistan, citing examples from how democracy works in India .. but now I will have to look for another case study of where democracy really works.” yeah me too!
[...] In response to my post on Indian government’s ban of blogs, a friend wrote the following (edited by me only to preserve context, and protect identity): I…always thought govt. should block all blogs and I think it’s a move in the right direction. It may be because my understanding of blogs was/is still wrong. I don’t think our free speech will be discouraged if we publish our feelings/opinion in books/magazines/newspapers etc… It’s just that government wants us to take ownership of our opinion. A blog is something anybody can write (badmouth) anonymously (hence no responsibility) and that’s only as good (and desirable) as the person writing it. It appeared all freedom and no accountability to me. I prefer no responsibility, no freedom deal. I fully support the move. [...]