Lights, Camera, Moral policing

In the month of December, a comedy collective, AIB Knockout, experimented with fire. The show was a roast, an unmistakable western import, where a whole bunch of rude jokes were made about the people who were willing to be roasted. Four thousand people paid Rs 4,000 each to watch the show and everyone went back happy.

Earlier this week, AIB uploaded the show on YouTube and overnight it had a million views. That was enough to get the government’s knickers into a twist and now not surprisingly, the political class is outraged. Anshul Tiwari, the founder and editor of Youth Ki Awaaz in Delhi, has started a petition #WeStandWithAIB in support of AIB Knockout which includes more than 20,000 supporters. He says that we use a lot of this language in our daily lives.

This issue is so ridiculous that if we were to go by the FIR claims, more than half the country should be sued for using abusive language. He further added, “This is unacceptable! By cracking down on comic artist’s right to offend, and joke about each other, these individuals are trying to morally police AIB and all their fans.

I want the charges against AIB and those involved be dropped, and their fundamental rights be protected. India is a democratic country and we must ensure that artists such as the All India Bakchod and those involved in the AIB Roast have the right to artistic freedom of expression.”