In this day of easy sex and dial-a-porn, Indians are beginning to let go of their penchant for equating sex on screen with smut. Liberalization and exposure to the Internet may have got a lot to do with the change in attitudes—on both sides, the middle-class movie goer, and the lumpen vandal—but what has helped in this transformation is the arrival of a new breed of Bollywood actresses and directors. India Empire, October 2004 Little did I know how far India would come within the next 10 years? Not far ahead, far below. From what I know, the Indian government has a duty to protect the rights and integrity of its citizens. Whenever did they get the freedom to rid people of their rights? Banning porn sites in India is an unwarranted attack on the personal rights and choices of its citizens. In a country where a 13-year-old has to fight her right to abort a foetus born out of a gruesome rape, this move comes as a surprise. First, protect your girls against men who threaten their modesty, then penalize ‘people’ who want to enjoy a little erotica within the confines of their homes. Yes sir, there are many women who enjoy porn as much as the men and it is their right. It’s a wonder who struck against the idea of banning porn sites in India. Someone who didn’t have the time to think about the growth and development of the country, maybe? India is a democratic country and banning porn websites is not an example we should be setting. The Modi government directed the Department of Telecom last week to block 857 websites as a move to control child pornography. This follows a 2013 petition files by an advocate who goes by the name Kamlesh Vasvani. He had also provided a list of the websites that should be banned. The list included a number of popular porn websites like 1Indiansex.net, 4hen.com, playboy.com and porntube.com. However, the list also includes many non-porn websites such as CollegeHumour.com, 9gag.com and PopURLs.com. Search India porn and 4,24,00,000 results show up. Better still, one must know that many porn websites make the most popular web addresses globally. Most men grow up watching porn and many of them agree that they would like to see high quality porn instead of no porn at all. That is what we need. Acknowledgement that we watch porn and it’s OK. Set the standards high and have better policies in place to check sex crimes on the internet. Banning porn sites is clearly not the solution.
