Enact a law against makers of obscene videos to sentence them up to 20 years

Uday Mahurkar, former Central RTI Commissioner’s demand to the Union Government

Credits : Study IQ

New Delhi – The decision of the Union Government to ban OTT applications and websites publishing perverted content stems from following the principles and ideals of Shriram. This is an important issue and I congratulate the Prime Minister and Information & Broadcasting Minister for recognising this issue and taking action against it.  The Save Culture Save Bharat Foundation has been campaigning against the publishing of obscene content for over a year.

Uday Mahurkar (Credits : India Today)

The incidence of rapes is related to obscene content, people watching pornographic content get influenced by it and then perform such horrendous acts. This is a huge challenge and danger for the country, this issue does not get enough attention. There are powerful lobbies having lot of money with vested interests that support the spread of such content.

The goal of developed Bharat by 2047 to become economic, military, scientific power house is clear and achievable. Can we also be a rich & vibrant culture ? If Bharat is to become Vishwaguru then we must stop these forces spreading obscenity and damaging our culture. The ban is a good first step in this direction.

A few days ago, The Union Government took a significant action to ban 18 OTT Platforms, 19 Websites and 10 Apps, spreading obscenity. Mahurkar’s statement was in this connection.

Credits : Gems of Bollywood

Mahurkar added, we have 3 demands,

• A law of ethics code for audio visual platforms that regulates scene, theme, exposure and language.  Individuals violating the law should be charged with encouraging rape and anti-national behaviour. There should be time bound trial within 3 months, harsh penalties such as jail sentence of 10 to 20 years and no provision for bail up to 3 years.

• Provisions in IT Act to guard access to adult content through verifiable identity mechanisms such as Aadhaar. Such tracking shall discourage people from accessing perverted content.

• A dedicated regulatory authority for audio visual content to prevent creation and proliferation of perverted content.

Establish a Powerful Regulatory Government organisation to check obscenity

A memorandum with these proposals has been submitted with the law ministry. Our foundation is working to create awareness about this issue at all levels.  We conduct programmes in colleges, ally with good organisations and have the support of the Gujarat Government.

Our focus is twofold – To deal with this menace legally, spreading awareness and supporting organisations in these efforts. I sincerely thank the Government of Gujarat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The work is ongoing and I am confident that we will be successful in this endeavour.