BY AK VARUN
Cultural Kerala has risen in protest against the July 18 verdict
of the Supreme Court banning the use of loudspeakers in residential areas from
10 p.m. to 6 a.m. except in case of "public emergency".
Jurist VR Krishna Iyer has vehemently decried the general nature
of the verdict. "Pleasurable sounds with aesthetic orientation" like music and
related artistic activities should not be stifled. Remarkably prescient, he
pointed out the distinct danger of the misuse of this provision by authorities,
especially the police. "Never should constabulary control, often vulnerable to
corruption, be entrusted with police power."
This insight is relevant in the context of a recent incident.
Dr. Sukumar Azhikkode, well known as the social conscience of Kerala, forsook
the mike in protest against a police order restricting permission to half an
hour. This happened on September 13, when he inaugurated the satyagraha
against the ban on common salt organised by Jana Arogya Prasthanam (JAP,
People’s Health Movement) outside the district medical officer’s office in
Kochi. The police justified the restriction on the grounds that the venue was a
public place. The licence mentioned that the decision was based on a government
notification. "I have never been so humiliated in my life. Freedom of expression
is guaranteed by our Constitution," said Dr. Azhikkode. Chairman of JAP, Dr.
Jacob Vadakkanchery has resolved to challenge the verdict both by flouting the
ban as well as contesting it legally with the support of eminent political and
social activists.
The Performing Artists Coordination Kerala (PACK), an apex body
of aggrieved artists with veteran stage personality Ahwan Sebastian as general
convenor, has already filed a review petition in the Kerala high court.
According to PK Sunil Kumar, state secretary of the Musicians Welfare
Association, one-and-a-half lakh families of instrument players and singers
would be affected. In all, three lakh families of performing artists would be
robbed of their livelihood. This sentiment is echoed by KJ Thomas, joint
secretary of Bankment’s Club, Kozhikode, a premier organisation with a vibrant
cultural calendar, who also fears dubious intent to promote only religious
functions, further fuelling religiosity. His opinion is shared by VS Anilkumar,
progressive writer and academician, who also sees in it a conspiracy to broaden
spaces of silence in society, which will facilitate the unchallenged
implementation of the globalisation agenda of neo-liberal polity. He also
equates this with the deliberate American killing of an Al-Jazeera
journalist in Iraq, thus silencing uncomfortable voices of protest.
Doyen of Malayalam theatre, KT Mohammed views it as an assault
on the free exercise of the beauty and strength of sound, which is an
inalienable right of the people. Sara Joseph, Kendra Sahitya Academy award
winner and social activist, is of the opinion that the plight of the five lakh
odd families who would be affected by the ban, should be addressed. While
political and religious functions can be thus restricted, artistic expression
should be exempted. "In the present dispensation the tendency seems to be to
curb all essential rights enjoyed by the masses, whether it is the right to
strike or the right to organise peaceful demonstrations. The present curb on the
use of loudspeakers is yet another glaring example of this wanton attempt," says
Dr. TK Ramachandran, cultural critic and coordinator of Secular Collective,
Kozhikode.
Another stark human face of the ban is highlighted by PK
Assainar, Malappuram district president of the Sound Service Association, who
reveals that more than two lakh people directly and indirectly employed by this
sector would be affected. Already the ban on advertising announcements by
commercial establishments has rendered people jobless. Lottery ticket-sellers
are permitted on the grounds that they operate at the low decibel level of
hand-held megaphones. Increasingly, people from the light and sound field are
now hiring themselves out to mobile displays of commercial establishments in
pick-up vans, which according to him, and in flagrant violation of the law, are
not even insured. The night cap on loudspeakers will adversely affect their
prospects, as most of the religious functions and fairs are late night or even
all night celebrations.
The consensus thus seems to be that this ban would lead to
throttling society, since it prevents the vigorous and continued articulation
of dissent, which is the cornerstone of democracy.
(The writer is a Kozhikode-based freelance journalist and
photographer.
[email protected]; [email protected]).