MPs will not hesitate to reintroduce Sati

Retired OU professor and activist Padmaja lambasts politicians for banning ‘India’s Daughter’ and said that the media should raise its voice against stifling of the freedom of speech

Noted women activist and retired Osmania University journalism professor Padmaja Shaw opined that there was no point in banning the contentious documentary ‘India’s Daughter’, which describes the way women are being treated in India.She was participating in a debate on the documentary filmed by British filmmakers Leslee Udwin, which was jointly organised by Osmania University research scholars and students of journalism department on Tuesday.

Referring to objections raised by various quarters that the film would defame the image of the nation, Padmaja opined that maximum damage was done when Nirbhaya incident took place in Delhi and that there was nothing wrong in the story which was banned from telecast in the country.

“Leslee in her documentary, described how women are being treated and how they are scared to enter the streets,” she said. Raising objections on the sitting MPs’ most objectionable remarkable against women belonging to non-Hindu communities, she said that elected representatives who were there in Parliament would not hesitate to reintroduce ‘Sati Sahagamanam’ in the county

Talking about the freedom of speech, Padmaja said, “Except social media there is no freedom of expression and all the media houses have restricted themselves. It is not a good sign for the media to restrict itself from expressing its voice as it leads to individual restriction.” She asked the people to raise their voice against the suppression of freedom of speech.