Caught red-handed

According to an India Today survey in 2008, three out of five men and one out of five women in India approved of pornography. So it seems likely figures of authority would be in the three out of five category. But watching pornography during an assembly session is surely stretching it too far.

According to Indian news reports, three state ministers from Karnataka, including Minister for Women & Child Welfare C. C. Patel, Minister for Ports and Fisheries Krishna Palemar and Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi, have resigned, following their party's demands after a local television station in Karnataka caught them watching porn during an assembly session earlier this week. The ministers have denied the allegation, claiming they were watching a clip from a rave party on neighboring Saint Mary's Island. Later, the ministers proclaimed that it was an MMS which they had received and were actually surprised to see its contents.

'Shameless'

Senior party officials from the Bharatiya Janata Party have reacted angrily. Nirmala Sitharaman, a spokesperson from the party in New Delhi, called it “a shameless act.” She further confirmed that the three ministers submitted their resignations and that BJP will set up an inquiry committee to probe the incident. According to reports, their resignations have been accepted.

Meanwhile, analysts, bloggers, and just about anybody and everybody with access to mass media has seized the opportunity to voice their opinions on the issue.

In his blog for The Times of India, Prashant Panday writes that he finds the government's response rather “over the top.” The writer clarifies that although he is against any form of oppression against women, the media hype given to the issue is over exaggerated. Amongst other reasons justifying his argument, Prashant Panday also raises an important question concerning privacy laws in India. He specifically says that the accused were using their personal cell phones devices and were not in a cinema hall. He believes that having the ministers resign was a far fetched solution and that they should have just been suspended for one session. Closing his blog, Panday says that the accused MLAs, being part of society, reflect its culture.

'If you have a weakness for porn…'

Sandip Roy and Laxhmi Chaudhry writing for Firstpost Politics have given a rather amusing spin on the story. Their blog titled “the dummy's guide for politicians watching porn” takes a sarcastically cynical look at the issue. The writers say, “it's just silly and plain unbelievable to pretend that your porn clip was a news story about an incident in Iran or educational research into the hazards of rave parties.” Sandip Roy and Laxhmi Chaudhry making fun of how the issue was handled and suggest as a golden rule, one should ask teenagers how to cover up being caught watching porn. They especially bash the ex-Minister for Women & Child Welfare M. C. C. Patel, saying, “if you have a weakness for porn, steer clear of certain cabinet portfolios, for example, Women and Child Development.”

Apart from a number of senior journalists and bloggers, a number of common people are also commenting heavily on social media platforms. Several online reports and articles in local Indian media point towards the extraordinary response on Facebook and Twitter. “Porngate” and “Karnataka Assembly” are the most frequently goggled words on the Internet right now and several news reports have termed the overwhelming response “Twitter rage.” People have generally taken the issue in a light, amusing way and criticized both Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party for politicizing the matter.

In days to come, this controversy is bound to attract more views and opinions.

Author: Aasim Saleem
Editor: Sarah Berning