Censorship
The very word ‘censor’ makes one think about what is NOT to be said, heard or seen. What is censorship? What is being censored? If we were to take away the biases, maybe one can reach the truth of any matter. Then that brings us to another issue; truth. What is true? Whose truth is truer than the other? Everyone has a version of the truth.
When a film is banned, what is being hidden from the public? Is the Censor Board trying to keep the public way from reality? Or is it done to protect the society from possible outrage by the public? Is state controlled censorship, meant to protect the state? Protection from what? A series of questions arise when we think about censorship.
Kaur and Mazzarella (2009) note that implicit forms of censorship are ambiguous. Moreover, they note, censorship is not in but of the public sphere. The censors work is generally opposed to publicity yet censorship courts the full glare of publicity. Furthermore, censorship is done by calculated publicized. This is done in the name of protecting cultural integrity.
What is the state trying to suppress through censorship? Can suppression be an answer to protect cultural integrity? Censorship is meant to stop offensiveness or objectionable behaviour related to certain ideas circulated in a social setting. Censorship has been practiced on the grounds of blasphemy, treason, obscenity. Each society has its own standards, norms, ideologies related to blasphemy, treason and obscenity. Hence, censorship is a complex term and has no definite meaning.
Pakistan is a prime example of state controlled censorship. The state uses censorship as a vanguard to protect cultural integrity. But what cultural integrity is the state trying to protect? Is the cultural integrity dependent upon state controlled censorship?
In Pakistan, self-censorship is a clear indication of one thing; people speak and write carefully. Censorship begins within them. They create a sense of self-censorship. Daniyal Mueenuddin, a Pakistani author of the book ‘The Other Rooms, Others Wonder’ (2009) commented on censorship in Pakistan in these words, ‘‘…who will reason with these people?’’.
The Censor Board in Pakistan is a state controlled entity where the decision to censor is unquestionable. Even the authors have accepted the state controlled censorship in Pakistan. Moreover, Mohsin Hamid, author of ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ (2007) talking about censorship said, ‘‘…being aware of what I am saying….and deciding what not to say…its (censorship) not something I like …’’. The writers of the country are imposing self-censorship before even approaching the Censor Board. They don’t like the censorship laws but have conditioned themselves to think before they speak or write.
This just shows the embedded nature of the censorship laws that have been enforced by the state. The state controlled censorship cannot stop people from thinking or tell them what to think but it can surely censor their expression.
Kaur and Mazzarela (2009) note that censorship is not only primarily a mechanism for denial and repression; it serves to articulate a language of the hidden and the sacred. It is out in the open even if it is not shown. The state controlled censorship in Pakistan has been politicized by the changing political scenario. We need to examine the historical background of censorship in Pakistan to better understand the Censor Board of Films.