New Delhi: After the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) assured the Indian government the ‘Nirbhaya’ documentary on 2012 Delhi gang-rape murder case will not be aired in the country, following a ban by a Delhi court against its broadcast, questions are now being raised whether the decision was right to make.

The documentary India’s Daughter by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin features the derogatory comments against women made by Mukesh Singh, the driver of the bus in which the 23-year-old paramedical student was brutally gang-raped by six men on December 16, 2012. In the interview, Singh displays an appalling lack of remorse, blaming the woman for the rape.

“Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. A decent girl will not roam around at 9 o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. When being raped, she should not fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Had that girl not protested, they would have dropped her off later, and only hit the boy,” Singh says in the interview.

On Wednesday, the Indian Parliament witnessed outrage over the interview of gang rape convict, prompting the Narendra Modi government to promise an in-depth inquiry.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh emphasises that terms and conditions for shooting the documentary were violated by the producer.

“When I heard about the documentary, I was hurt. Under no circumstances should this be telecast. The government condemns December 16 incident. We will not allow any group or individual to use the incident for any commercial use. The government is committed to dignity and security of women. The condition was given to shoot the interview for social purpose and not for commercial use,” Singh told Gulf News.

Leslee Udwin feels sad about the whole controversy.

“It makes me feel sad but anything of this magnitude, which is more than a campaign does not have it easy. I think it is ill-advised and I hope they are going to consider it carefully and understand that by attempting to silence a film like this, they are attempting to silence the issue of gender inequality. It is just counterproductive,” Udwin was quoted as saying by BBC.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has condemned the convict’s remark. UN Secretary General Gen Ban Ki-moon described the convict’s remarks as “unspeakable.”

“I am not going to comment on the unspeakable comments that were made by the person accused of raping this girl. There is a need to halt violence against women and for men to get involved in halting violence against women and decrying it loud and clear every time it occurs,” Moon said on Thursday.

Some members of the Upper House have, however, questioned the move to block the documentary.

“I concede that there is an issue on who gave the permission and all that, but the reality is what the man spoke reflects the view of many men in India and why are we shying away from that? In glorifying India and saying we are perfect we are not confronting the issues that need to be confronted. Every time a rape happens, the victim is blamed to have provoked the men. Let’s be aware of the view and not pretend all is well,” said Anu Aga, a nominated member of the Upper House.

The victim’s father Badri Singh Pandey too has questioned the ban.

“The documentary holds a mirror to the society and its mindset, and should be watched by everybody. If a man can speak like that in jail, imagine what he would say if he was walking free,” Pandey told the Gulf News.

Lyricist and Rajya Sabha Member Javed Akhtar feels goal of such documentaries is to bring out disgust against rapists’ point of view.

“It is good this documentary has been made. If any one finds it objectionable, they should change their mindset. If Mukesh’s lawyer asks for a ban, it makes sense to me, but why others? Why not reveal to the world what rapists are like. It makes people aware that such a mindset is not uncommon,” Akhtar said.

While members of the Censor Board refrained from commenting on the issue, writer Shobhaa De disagrees on the ban.

“Just look at the irony of it all. Instead of acknowledging the gravity of the situation and promising to tackle crimes against women on a war footing, the Home Minister is diverting attention from the tragedy itself and concentrating on prison procedures,” De said.

Twenty-five-year-old software engineer Abhishek Pathak feels that the whole controversy is an insult to Nirbhaya’s memory.

“All this is so stupid and much more insulting to Nirbhaya’s memory than the documentary supposedly is. People are trying to ban a documentary they have not even seen. How can you say what the moviemaker wants to say when you have not seen the movie in the first place? How illogical is that? These guys interviewed the rapist and are just showing you what the mentality of such people is. It is supposed to be like a mirror to society. And like I said, you have not even seen the movie. The interview is probably not the only thing in it,” says Pathak.