Speech Interrupted ft. Amol Palekar

There’s censorship, there’s self censorship, & then, as Amol Palekar discovered, there’s “stick-to-the-topic-ship”.

When Amol Palekar was stopped midway through his speech for the Prabhakar Barwe retrospective at the NGMA Mumbai, he was told:

“I’m not telling you don’t talk about something, I’m just saying, let’s stick to Barwe, that’s all I am saying...”

Palekar very much followed the instructions. He just ignored the word ‘stick’.

Here is a look at censorship, featuring the recently interrupted Amol Palekar.

There’s Censorship

When you are told by someone powerful what you cannot say.

There’s Self-Censorship

You have something to say, but then, decide not to say it.

There’s Glimmer-of-Hope-Ship

You’re invited to speak and plan carefully how to nuance and say your bit.

But then be ready for the ...

You-Are-Uninvited-Ship

You find yourself at home on the day you were supposed to be on a dais, something not entirely unfamiliar to writers, musicians and public intellectuals.

But if that doesn’t happen and you still get to go to the event, be ready for...

Stick-To-The-Topic-Ship

Here’s a whole new kind of ‘censorship’ that we’ve not seen yet – being invited to speak at an event, then being interrupted repeatedly by the people on the dais, asking you to “stick to the topic”.

Watch how veteran actor Amol Palekar is stopped from making any critical comments during his speech for the inaugural of the Prabhakar Barwe retrospective at the NGMA Mumbai on Feb 8, 2019. pic.twitter.com/7lQAxcA1U1

— geeta seshu (@geetaseshu) February 9, 2019

But does everyone care about free speech? There are folks who say nothing even when asked repeatedly to give us a hint, about their views on anything at all.

In fact Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt were at such pains to prove they have no political views of any kind that they voluntarily used words like ‘apolitical’ and ‘apathetic’ to describe themselves in a recent interview. Finally, Alia let slip that her mantra is ‘silence is golden’. But can you blame her when free speech isn’t cost-free?