Human rights activist and author Arun Ferreira. Human rights activist and author Arun Ferreira.

Amid ongoing controversy over AIB Roast show, free speech has faced the axe again in India. On Wednesday, just minutes before human rights activist and author Arun Ferreira was to read out from his book at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai, the event was cancelled, allegedly at the behest of intelligence sleuths. The book, Colours of the Cage, deals with Ferreira's experiences in prison when he went through a trial on charges of sedition for being an alleged Maoist.

Ferreira was slated to read from the book as part of TISS's literary programme, Heterotopia. According to Ferreira, the intelligence officials allegedly said that the activist cannot be allowed to speak as there are criminal cases against him. Some TISS students corroborated the claim, saying that intelligence agency sleuths had asked TISS authorities to cancel the session.

The cancellation of the book reading event comes in the backdrop of ongoing row over the show AIB Roast, for which a third FIR has been registered in Mumbai against several people, including film producer-director Karan Johar. Just last month, a talk on Kashmir was cancelled at IIT Bombay.

While TISS is yet to offer an official comment, students claimed that the "police informally approached the security on campus" and requested them to cancel the reading just 30 minutes before it was to begin. According to some students, on Wednesday evening the organisers of the event were called in to the dean's office. There were "some police officials in civil clothes in the dean's office" as well who then requested that the event be cancelled, students claimed.

According to Ferreira, the literary secretary of TISS had confirmed the event on February 7 through an email and text message. Details of the event were even posted on TISS website. However, the information has now been taken off the website.

Ferreira has now sought an official explanation from TISS and has written a mail to the director, professor S. Parasuraman. "I am not in the good books of the police since my arrest but I have never faced such a problem before. I am part of a research project at TISS and also spoke at the Tata Literature Festival in Mumbai, in a panel that was entirely about my book," he said. "While TISS is yet to respond to my mail, the authorities are now asking me to back off, saying that I am intimidating the students," he added.

While TISS authorities initially refused to comment, the students' affairs dean Arvind Tiwari said "a meeting of the concerned TISS authorities" will take place late on Thursday evening.

The Deonar police station, under whose jurisdiction TISS falls, and the control room refused to reveal any information about the cancelled event.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police has registered a FIR against organisers of the show AIB Roast, the celebrity participants and management of the indoor stadium where the show was organised. The FIR was lodged at Tardeo police station on the basis of a complaint by lawyer-activist Abha Singh. This is the third FIR that has been registered in connection with the show.

Those who have been named in this FIR include, Karan Johar, Ranvir Singh, Rohan Joshi, Tanmay Bhatt, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya, Aditi Mittal, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Rajeev Masand and Arjun Kapoor. Besides invoking the sections of the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act, Bombay Police Act, a section of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act was also mentioned in the FIR.

According to Singh, the indoor stadium has been constructed on government plot. But by organising the "vulgar, obscene and pornographic show," the laws were violated. "Bollywood celebs blurted out pre-scripted, vulgar, pornographic and obscene jokes. Such words were spoken in front of a large number of women in an open defiance to the laws," Singh said.

She said, "If one thinks that that the laws on obscenity are improper and constrain freedom of speech and expression, then the right course for them is to approach the government for changing the law."



