|| Satyameva Jayate ||

Amidst the controversy surrounding the CBSE textbooks on sex education in India (Karnataka became the latest state to join the ban brigade, following Maharashtra and before that, Kerala, Gujarat and MP), several reports mention the alarming statistic that “India is number two in the world among the countries most effected by the (HIV/AIDS) virus“…and consequently, there is strong justification for imparting sex education in schools.

I have no problem with sex education at an appropriate age (and I dont think a ban is the best way to deal with issues it may raise) but the “statistic” of HIV/AIDS caught my eye – not only does it exaggerate the magnitude of the problem, the data that it is based upon is suspect as well. See for example. this post I wrote several months back on how “Truth” and “Facts” were the first casualty of AIDS in India.

So to use this “figure” to justify sex education is not only wrong but also reflects lack of homework amongst reporters.

Across the border, the Pakistani moral police is apparently in action again in Islamabad – this time targeting DVD shops because they show films and songs “which is against Sharia”.

The Vice -Principal of the Madrasa whose students are suspected to be involved in these acts (Jamia Hafsa school), Abdul Rashid Ghazi denied that the raids (on DVD and music shops) were carried out by his students although he admitted that in the past, traders has been “politely” asked not to show pornographic films and choose other jobs “which are not repugnant to Sharia” (Pg 28, “Moral Police hits Islamabad Street”, Hindustan Times, Apr 4, ‘07).

Almost in tandem, Pakistan’s Censor Board announced that it will not allow unchecked access to Indian movies but permit only those films made by Pakistani producers and directors with foreign technology.

“…no stuff would be allowed which does not come in conformity with our moral values,” said Azfar Shafqat, chairman of the Central Film Censor Board of Pakistan.

Apparently the current censor policy is too gentle and mild so that “Pakistani movies could compete with popular foreign films” (sic).

And while our PM merrily announced a string of unilateral measures at the SAARC summit (including no visas  – yay! , the ban on Indian movies continues – presumably because they may cause moral corruption.

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P.S. For those of you who are curious, my stand on the issue (of sex education in schools) is that a ban is counter-productive and may actually lead to misleading information being passed on to students.

One can argue about the age at which children should be exposed to this information (6 years is obviously too young and 20 is definitely too late), I think there can be no fundamental objection to children being taught about “the birds and the bees”.

Some of you may also want to read Bachi Karkaria’s balanced lead article on this issue in the Times of India.