In all these cases, the basic freedom of the author of the work has been violated, even though the exercise of his or her right has not resulted in serious harm. But our rights as readers, as watchers of films, as art lovers, and as citizens have also been violated. To watch a film is to engage in a dialogue with the filmmaker, to respond to the issues raised and the manner in which they have been raised, to criticise them and to mull over them. A good filmmaker shakes society out of its complacency, forces people to think.

Censorship deprives us of this ‘waking up’. It violates two rights — your right to tell me a story, howsoever wracking that story might be. It also violates my right to learn from that story. Either way, censorship prevents communication. This defeats the purpose of democracy; the rights of authors not to be prevented by the actions of other agents from communicating their ideas to others who might wish to hear them.

-The writer is a professor of political science, University of Delhi