Crime patrol is one of my favourite shows on TV. And I believe it is so for many people. But the recent controversy about the show regarding the telecast of the enacted Delhi gang rape case has caused lot of disturbance in my mind.
I did a research on this particular issue two weeks ago with my friend for making a presentation in the class. I couldn't think of any other case to present as I am so fond of the show. I somehow managed to convince my friend too.
I learned that the show was refrained from telecasting the episode of Delhi gang rape case because of the sensitivity of the issue. Questions were raised about this particular notice from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. How can they impose a ban on the episode when we have the right to freedom of speech and expression that has been guaranteed in the constitution? The government did not even watch the episode, how can they then make such a decision, merely because the case is sensitive?
When it comes to the sensitivity of the issue, I believe that the show does take the sensitivity of the case into consideration. It shows the act of crimes in such a way that the viewers actually do not see what happens but they understand what had just happened. I still remember a particular case that they had shown. It was about the murder of a woman by her husband and in-laws for property. The child had also witnessed the murder of his mother in reality but the episode did not show any child character at all. It is when, the host at the end said that the couple had a three year old child, and he had seen his mother being killed by his father and grandparents, that we get to know about it. This clearly illustrates that the show always gives the maximum priority to the sensitivity of the case.
The show only tries to create awareness by showing why and how crimes are committed and how can they be eliminated. The show calls itself Crime Patrol Dastak, Dastak meaning warning. It says that maximum number of crimes happen with some sort of warning which people don't recognize or they recognize and just ignore. The show analyses the cases and tries to give solutions to various problems because of which these crimes are committed.
One such case happened to be the Delhi gang rape case. It was supposed to be telecast on 2nd and 3rd January in two parts. The government feels that if the case is telecast before the verdict is given, it can influence the proceedings of the case. But guess, the government has forgotten that it had recognized the film Parzania, which was based on the Gujarat riots and had awarded the National Award for the film, much before the verdict was given. In that case, shouldn't the films on wars and violence be banned too? After all, all crimes are equally brutal.
I think the government was in the state of confusion during the entire real episode and made a decision of imposing a ban on the telecast of this show. However, the case had already gained lot of public attention through media, then what big difference would it make if the show also telecast the episode.
Self regulation is the factor, that people talk about, more often, when it comes to the matters relating to media. And I personally feel that the show is self regulated.
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The photograph given above has been taken from google images.)