The Madras High Court gave directions to the authorities to regulate the practice of conducting stage dramas and Aadal-Paadal programs, in which, there has been a frequent casting of tribal couples i.e., Kuravan-Kurathi. The court acknowledged that this practice cannot be banned altogether however, the authorities must ensure that acts of obscenity and objectification of women must not be show-cased. Further, if the persons belonging to the Kuravan-Kurathi community are not involved in the dance, then their names must not be used on social media platforms.
Brief Facts:
The petitioner, General Secretary of Vanavengaigal Peravai, which is an organisation functioning to promote the welfare and social upliftment of the people belonging to 'Kuravar' community, came up with this public interest litigation to issue a Writ of Mandamus:
- directing the second respondent to issue appropriate proceedings to ban the conduct of cultural programmes, which denigrate the social status and reputation of the people belonging to Kuruvar community;
- directing the third respondent to give necessary instruction to all his subordinates not to grant police permission for conduct of Aadal-Paadal programmes having "Kuruvan-Kurathi" dance, in any form in the State of Tamil Nadu; and
- directing the first respondent to take effective steps to the extent possible to purge obscene "Kuruvan-Kurathi" dance videos from the Internet (websites) i.e., YouTube, Facebook, etc and also ensure no broadcasting of such videos in any television channel.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
According to the petitioner, in his Vilangudi village, Madurai District, during festive times, there has been a practice of conducting stage dramas and Aadal-Paadal programmes, in which, there has been a frequent casting of tribal couple i.e., Kuravan-Kurathi. In early times, those stage dramas portrayed moral stories from their holy epics and the Aadal-Paadal programmes contained traditional dance and divine songs embodied with good social messages. However, later, the same have been discoloured and flooded with vulgarities.
Further, there has been unfettered usage of obscene words and gestures of double entendre. The petitioner further stated that most of those dancers do not belong to any tribal community, but portray as belonging to Kuravar community by simply using the name. The spectators get the impression that the people belonging to Kuravar community are ill-cultured. As a result, the people belonging to other communities show hatred towards all tribal people, regardless of the individual's socio-economic status.
It is also stated by the petitioner that the scandalous portrayal of Kuravar community hurts the feelings of the people belonging to the said community and it promotes the violence towards the tribal community. The dance videos are widely uploaded and shared in popular websites viz., YouTube, Facebook, etc. It wrongly portrays and perpetuates the bad reputation which drastically affects the harmony of the people belonging to the said community.
Contentions of the Respondents:
The respondent authorities are treating all the people equally, irrespective of their caste, race, religion, etc., and that, the Government formulates various schemes for the welfare and upliftment of downtrodden communities and they have taken immediate action against the persons, who indulge in degrading the people belonging to other communities in any form and anywhere. Hence, there is no requirement to pass any order in this writ petition.
Observations of the Court:
The court relied on the decision in K. Senthil Mullar v. Government of Tamil Nadu [2017(2) Writ LR 804: 2017 (6) CTC 225], where a 5-judge had observed that 'there cannot be any justification in lifting a community by demeaning other communities'. The judges were of the view that everyone should be accorded equal treatment and afforded protection of their rights in all spheres of life, without any form of discrimination or prejudice based on religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and in any form of such discrimination or violation of rights, warrant action in accordance with law.
In light of the aforementioned, the court opined that the state must take proactive measures to address the concerns of the community and to ensure that they are provided with all the rights and privileges that are available to other citizens. The state must also ensure that the Kuravar community is given equal access to education, employment and other basic amenities, and that their rights are respected and protected at all times.
Moreover, the judges did not find any substantial proof to establish that the art form is still being performed by individuals belonging to the Kuravar community and despite various directions of this Court, obscenity in the dance persists. Such misrepresentation and misappropriation of Kuravar’s indigenous art form will hurt the community’s feeling and acts of objectification under the guise of their community, ultimately leads to the persons belonging to the community being disrespected and ostracised, though they are not involved in the performances. Nevertheless, the court opined that banning such art forms will amount to a violation of the fundamental rights of the individual performers and groups.
Further, such dance video uploaded and shared in the social media, such as, YouTube, Facebook, etc. affects the harmony of the people belonging to the said community. Therefore, the court gave certain directions to prohibit the use of the names of ‘Kuravar-Kurathi’ in performances in which they are not involved. Further, the court opined that the names used in videos on social media, identifying the dance performance with the Kuravar community shall be expunged and appropriate criminal action shall also be initiated against such violators by creating a separate portal by Cyber Crime department so as to enable the general public to make their complaints with supportive documents.
The decision of the Court:
This writ petition was disposed of with the following directions to the respondents:
- ensure that no dance performance is identified using a caste/ tribal community's name so as to insult or degrade the persons belonging to such community;
- not to grant permission for the cultural programme / Aadal-Paadal programme depicting obscene and denigrating the social status of the people belonging to Kuravar community, and if any complaint is made, action be taken against the violators forthwith,
- to open a separate portal by the Cyber Crime department for general public to post their complaints with necessary evidence about the scandalous dance videos of such community, and on receipt of the same, the official concerned shall verify and expunge the same, besides taking criminal action against the offenders. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
Case Title: Po.Mu.Iraniyan @ Muthu Murugan vs The Union of India and 3 others
Coram: Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad
Case No.: W.P.(MD)No.20097 of 2018
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr.N.Karthik Kanna
Advocate for the Respondents: Mr. J. Alaguram Jothi Senior Panel Counsel for R-1; Mr. S.P. Maharajan Special Government Pleader for R-2 and R-4; Mr. S. Ravi Additional Public Prosecutor for R3
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