THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- January 19, 2018 - Topic 1

Dual duty

On the twin responsibilities of States

The state cannot choose between protecting freedom of expression and preserving law and order. It has a duty to do both. This is the core message of the Supreme Court order staying the notifications and decisions of four States to prohibit the screening of the film Padmaavat, and directing them to ensure that law and order is maintained during its exhibition. Gujarat and Rajasthan have notified a ban, while Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have indicated they would follow suit. 

What troubled the court was that creative freedom could be so easily prohibited by the state citing a possible risk to public order. It needs no reiteration that summary bans on films violate the freedom of speech and expression enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Such a right is subject to reasonable restrictions on some grounds, including public order. However, the use of the threat of violence and other forms of intimidation cannot give the state an oblique reason to stifle fundamental freedoms by voicing apprehensions and invoking its powers to maintain peace. In the past, the Supreme Court has made it clear that it cannot give anyone a virtual veto over a certificate issued by the Central Board of Film Certification, a statutory body, by threatening violence. The court has reiterated that the grant of a certificate by the CBFC denudes the state of the power to prevent the exhibition of a film.

The interim order, which paves the way for Padmaavat to be released on January 25, is in line with a series of judicial decisions. In S. Rangarajan v. P. Jagjivan Ram (1989), the Supreme Court said the state cannot plead inability to handle the problem of a hostile audience as that “would be tantamount to negation of the rule of law and a surrender to blackmail and intimidation.” In Prakash Jha Productions v. Union of India (2011), it reiterated that it is the state’s duty to maintain law and order. In the current controversy, the filmmakers agreed to change its name from Padmavati to Padmaavat. The new title indicates it is based on a medieval poem on a legendary Rajput queen and not any historical personality. They also agreed to several cuts suggested by a special panel formed by the CBFC. If even after these concessions the protestors are allowed to obtain a ban, it would undoubtedly amount to a base surrender to blackmail and intimidation. It would be a taint on the country’s record of protecting free speech if a film with admittedly no claim to historical accuracy is banned on the mere pretext that some people, who have not even seen it, find it offensive. The Supreme Court has indicated where the constitutional duty of State governments lies. It is now up to them to live up to that expectation.

Vocabulary

Preserve: maintain something in its original or existing state.

Example: All records of the past were zealously preserved

Synonyms: conserve, protect, maintain, care for, look after

Prohibit: formally forbid something by law, rule, or other authority.

Example: Laws prohibiting cruelty to animals

Synonyms: forbid, ban, bar, interdict, proscribe, make illegal, embargo

Antonyms: allow, authorize, command, consent to, direct

Indicate: point out; show.

Example: Dotted lines indicate the text's margins

Synonyms: specify, designate, mark, stipulate, show

Antonyms: contraindicate

Citing: summon someone to appear in a court of law.

Example: The summons cited four of the defendants

Synonyms: summon, summons, serve with a summons, serve with a writ

Enshrined: place a revered or precious object in an appropriate receptacle.

Example: Relics are enshrined under altars

Synonyms: saint, shrine, enshrine, canonise, canonize

Intimidation: the action of intimidating someone, or the state of being intimidated.

Example: The intimidation of witnesses and jurors

Synonyms: deterrence, bullying, determent

Oblique: neither parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line; slanting.

Example: We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace

Synonyms: slanting, slanted, sloping, at an angle, angled, diagonal, aslant

Antonyms: nominative case, nominative, subject case

Apprehension: anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.

Example: He felt sick with apprehension

Synonyms: anxiety, worry, unease, nervousness, nerves, misgivings, disquiet

Antonyms: inapprehension

Inability: the state of being unable to do something.

Example: His inability to accept new ideas

Synonyms: lack of ability, incapability, incapacity, powerlessness, impotence

Antonyms: ability, power

Hostile: unfriendly; antagonistic.

Example: A hostile audience

Synonyms: unfriendly, unkind, bitter, unsympathetic, malicious, vicious

Antonyms: friendly, amicable, nonaggressive, reconcilable

Concession: a thing that is granted, especially in response to demands; a thing conceded.

Example: The strikers returned to work having won some concessions

Synonyms: compromise, allowance, exception

Accuracy: the quality or state of being correct or precise.

Example: We have confidence in the accuracy of the statistics

Synonyms: trueness, accuracy, truth, verity, the true

Antonyms: inaccuracy