Gandhinagar (Gujarat), August 4, 2013: The Jain community has come out strongly seeking a ban on cyber pornography. More than 15 lakh Jains have signed an online petition addressed to a committee of Rajya Sabha members committee in a fortnight seeming an amendment in the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
A leading Jainacharya Vijay Ratnasundersuriswarji Maharaj is leading several Jain Sanghs from across India against the increasing influence of internet based pornography and the resulting rise in crime.
Palak Shah of Ratnatrayee Trust in Ahmedabad who is leading the online campaign said,” Apart from 15 lakh people that have signed the online petition to stop the use of pornography in India, many more are directly sending their requests to the Rajya Sabha committee through various means of communication.”
He said that the campaigners against cyber pornography distributed awareness material like banners and pamphlets from derasars and sent e-mails to lakhs of Jains besides putting up advertisements on community platforms. “In a short span, we could generate a lot of awareness using the social media,” added Shah.
Shah pointed that medical students have done research on the matter and concluded that pornography can leave a very damaging effect on the brain. “The internet is a perfect drug delivery system because you are anonymous, aroused and have role models for such behaviour. It is like having a free drug pumped into you 24/7, and what is worse, children know how to use it better than grown-ups — it’s a perfect delivery system. We will have a whole generation of young addicts who will never be able to get the drug out of their mind. Pornography addicts have a more difficult time recovering from their addiction than cocaine addicts, since cocaine users can get the drug out of their system, but pornographic images stay in the brain forever,” he asserted.
The campaigners have expressed hope that the parliamentarian will consider the need of saving the future generation from pornography addiction and amend the IT Act soon. “Advanced technology is to ensure progress and the betterment of the society. It should not be allowed to show disrespect to any gender and neither should it be allowed to promote wrong values,” Shah added. – News Courtesy: Times of India