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Our nation has given us great souls like Gautam Buddha, Raja Harishchandra, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and many more. With “Satyameve Jayate” (Truth Alone Triumphs) as the national motto of our country, we all have a great faith in truth. But, it is also a well known fact that a lie for a good reason is far better than truth which hurts. Now, the question arises that what actually Truth is? For me, it is the voice which comes from your inner self. As, different senses are involved in developing human mind with conditions different for every human being, it may occur that a truth for someone may be untruth for another.

Now-a-days a reality television show by Star Plus named “Sach Ka Saamna” is making buzz all over the country. The discussion about this show is going on everywhere. A petition to in the Delhi High court was filled to have this show banned. But, the court rejected the plea saying that “moral policing” was not its job. A division bench of Chief justice A P Shah and Justice Manmohan quoted that “In this land of Gandhi, it appears that nobody follows Gandhi… Follow the Gandhian principle of ‘see no evil’. Why do you not simply switch off the TV?” They further added that “We have very good advice for you. You have got two judges sitting here who do not watch TV at all. It will certainly help.”

Actually, the debate started with Samajwadi Party’s MP Kamal Akhtar raised the question about the show in the Rajya Sabha. He said that ‘obscene questions’ are asked on the show based on personal lives. He further said that the show is against our “Indian Culture”. His claim was also supported by other MP’s of Samajwadi party and Bhartiya Janta Party. So, the question which arises is that, can a truth be harmful for anyone? There may be different opinions on this issue. But, what I feel is that there are other more important issues of our society than this, which remains orphaned and are not raised by anyone in our country. I believe that those MP’s who raise their voice against such petty affairs as television shows should act on important issues other than just weeping for these television shows. They are sent there by the citizens to raise the issues affecting their daily life. Be it employment, infrastructure development, education, health, security, etc: certainly not to police our television viewing.

However, a doubt also arises on the truth shown on the television show; the truth that is convicted only to raise money. Furthermore, who gives the guarantee that the truth shown on the show is actually true? The management of the show defends it with the polygraphic tests done on the contestant before the final shooting of the programme. But then, it is also a well known fact that these tests are not infallible and contains errors. According to 2003 National Academy of science (NAS) report, polygraphic analyses are “Unreliable, Unscientific and Biased”.

So the bottom line is that our MP’s and media had given so much importance to an issue which is insignificant enough when we consider the bigger issues that our country is suffering from every moment. After all, it is an entertainment based show, not requiring such seriousness. So, just enjoy it or turn off your television sets if it hurts your moral sentiments!!

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