We’re already under an umbrella of bans in this country. The clear blue sky of a free voice has already been effectively muffled and the people holding this umbrella are telling us that it is too dangerous to even peep out. Asking for the removal of this umbrella is unheard of in the corridors of the powers that favour bans.

You see, I am no fan of beef, but banning it sounds ridiculous. So many tourists and even locals aren’t appreciative of this ban. Economy suffers. Rifts deepen. Riots happen. And the government goes on defending its penchant for bans. Though, I guess it is fine if a group of goons comes along and skins Dalits who earning a living by skinning cattle. Aren’t we confused about bans?

I don’t go around kissing my wife during our morning walks but banning even holding hands isn’t an action that I would endorse. Walking openly and fearlessly with a girlfriend is foolhardy in many places in our country. But I guess it is pardonable if wayward sons and relatives of those in power go about raping women in our villages and cities. Aren’t we confused about bans?

Being a gay is definitely a disease because section 377 endorses the opinion by refusing to take corrective action and prefers silence. So we have a ban on gay rights though we conveniently forget that we have a cultural history of accepting them as a part of the social matrix. They are a part of stories in our epics as well… but the modern leader must be right if he says that a ban is justified… and so we go on promoting goons carrying buckets of black paint. Thank God no one has let them have access to mortars and LMGs or we’d have half of Khajurahu in dust. Aren’t we totally confused about bans?

Ours is a nation where movies get banned, mannequins wearing lingerie are stoned and mutilated, dance bar girls are threatened, liquor appears only if bribes and forged permits are produced, and those who speak the truth have local political goons rushing forward to thrash them. And yet, there are those sitting in the parliament and browsing porn or pushing legislations that favour bans. These are the sort of people who we have elected and so we are definitely a part of the entire rot. These are the ones who have now decided to ban a media channel for a day. These are the sort of minds with expertise to disguise their inaction or lack of initiative with colourful bans so that attention remains diverted from the truth.

To a question about what could be done about bans, my friend Siddhartha Gigoo ?@siddharthagigoo tweeted: “Let’s hope all protesting media outlets go off the air that day. That’s real protest. @arvindpassey” I agree with this thought. Ban for a ban is one of the ways to hammer in sense in those who threaten the nation with irresponsible bans. It isn’t just NDTV that needs to remain out… let the rest of the media impose on itself a ban for a day, let facebook updates, tweets, instagrams and all other social media activity cease for a day. Let the world know that bans are a reality in India… or maybe the government that anyway likes to get rid of old names might want to rename the country Bandia?