India: Govt bans FTV for 10 days for showing topless women

The Indian government has banned the transmission of FTV network for 10 days beginning Friday for showing visuals of topless women on the channel. "The visuals were found to be obscene, denigrating women, and were not suitable for children and unrestricted public exhibition," a statement by the Union information and broadcasting ministry added on Thursday.

The statement said in a prudish comment, that it was noticed by the ministry that "a programme on FTV channel was telecast on September 4, 2009, at 15:37:34 hours and 19:01:48 hours showing women with nude upper body, which was offending against good taste and decency."

The ministry said it had observed that FTV violated various clauses of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994. "Therefore, the ministry, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 20 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, as amended from time to time, has taken this action," the statement said.

In 2007 also, the ministry had prohibited transmission or re-transmission of FTV for telecasting programmes such as Midnight Hot featuring skimpily clad and semi-naked models. The prohibition was, however, revoked on May 25, 2007, after FTV.com India channel regretted its error and promised not to repeat it.

FTV has a 24-hour channel highlights fashion shows from around the world that delights the voyeurs of the female body, like the Rio carnival. Though the Indian version of FTV is a much sanitized version, at times, a few clips showing topless models creep in, to the delight of the midnight viewers. But for obvious reasons, the government cannot silently allow what it terms obscene shows, violating the code of conduct for TV channels.

- Asian Tribune -