On Censorship
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Hutnyck’s piece on “Dog Tribe” helps paint a vivid image of the ways in which censorship is used as a political tool by the state in suppressing voices that speak out against them. In the music video for “Dog Tribe”, Fun^da^mental show jarring visuals of racial violence, and emphasise on the idea of defending one’s self instead of being passive. It ends with images of signs that say “we are waiting” and “now is the time”, as a direct threat to the government and their racist policies. This video was banned, supposedly for promoting Islamic extremism.
Interestingly, while reading this piece, I could not help but draw parallels to censorship by the state in India. The removal of the chapter on Mughals from history textbooks, the erasure of mention of BJP’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riots from Sociology textbooks and unjust arrests under the UAPA act all allude to one thing- censorship has been, and continues to be one of the state’s most powerful tools in silencing people.
I also find it quite interesting how the British government identified raves as spaces that could allow room for unrest among the youth. The youth have historically been pivotal in creating change and pressurising the state and other governing institutions. This would then explain the state’s attempts to regulate the kind of media that is consumed by the youth via major music video distribution outlets like MTV and ITV. In doing so, the state took away what Nawaz from Fun^da^mental refers to as a “platform for a statement”. Nawaz believes that videos like “Dog Tribe” must be “played on daytime television to raise questions about race violence for young viewers” (Hutnyck, 58).