Pornography Leading Mizo Society towards Sexual Immorality

By David M. Thangliana

The advent of information technology in the State has brought about many changes that hitherto had been unknown in the Mizo society bringing about transformations in many areas. These transformations have in some cases been for the good of the society while some have had adverse effects on it. While we will not dwell on the positive aspects of the information technology effect in the State, we will be trying to analyze the adverse affects instead. Of all the undesirable effects that advance in information and communication technology has brought to Mizoram, sexual immorality could top the list because there has been a clear upsurge in this area from the past few years.

There has been a clear proliferation of sexually explicit still and moving images and there may be few privately owned PCs (personal computers) which do not contain pornographic material of some kind. Acquisition of pornographic materials had been made effortless by the advent of the internet technology where a good part of the websites is adult-oriented containing pornographic materials and objects. This has brought about an unwanted awareness of pornography in young and vulnerable minds aggravating to some extent assaults of sexual nature in the society. Shockingly, sexual assaults are found more common in the pre-teen and teenage age groups in modern Mizo society which lends credence to the belief that easy accessibility and availability of pornographic material is leading the Mizo society towards sexual immorality and sexually-motivated crimes.

(In the picture is a Mizo Model whose picture is available on Flickr – photo-sharing website.)

While crimes of sexual nature are to be seriously considered, the sexual immorality that is slowly eroding the once staid and morally upright Mizo society is of more serious concern because of the moral issue. In recent times, sex videos made in the privacy of homes have begun to surface in the society of which some had been deliberately leaked while some are accidental. The advent of advanced cellular telephones with video capabilities has made making videos simple and trouble-free contributing towards the proliferation of sex videos. Though poor in quality, these cellphone-produced videos have been a cause of shame and embarrassment of many Mizo girls because these are passed on to friends and friends of friends eventually becoming public property. Currently, a Minister of State in the Zoramthanga-led MNF government was also in the news because he was projected as being the male in an explicit sex scene portraying a popular contemporary Mizo folk singer. Such was the adverse publicity he received that it was rumoured that he had been threatened of being dismissed from his post as a minister. He eventually had to file a first information report with the police to clear his name.

The arrival of cellular phones in Mizoram led to the increase of the sexual trade among even non-commercial sexual workers if media reports are to be believed. According to these reports, girls as young as thirteen and fourteen years old are willing to sell their bodies simply to recharge and top-up their SIM (subscriber identification module) cards. If this is true, it reflects on how deep the Mizo society has descended into the pit of immorality since this kind of immorality would not be found in a society that has a strong moral and character fibre. The question, however, is the cause behind the deterioration of morality in the Mizo society. Can the advent of the advanced information and communication technology alone be responsible for it? Probably not. Most people would agree that the value system in Mizoram has greatly deteriorated to the extent that the Mizo society no longer values what should be valued. For example, strong integrity and principles no longer has any value in modern Mizo society while money-power has acquired a disproportionately great value. This is clearly evidenced by government officers in a position to contribute hugely to church and NGO coffers being the centre of admiration and envy in the society.

These people are accorded high positions both in the society and the churches though everyone knows they could not afford to give such generous contributions from their salaries alone. If churches and the society can condone corruption, why shouldn’t the young people indulge in sexual activities that would be generally frowned on by a Christian society? Therefore, it all comes down to jealousy of the freedom enjoyed by some section of the society by those wanting to have freedom of their choice from the society too. However, this is not to assert that this is the main cause of the deterioration of morality in the Mizo society. There are many things that have contributed towards the downward slide of morality in the State and among these may be the way the Mizo society regards sex. The subject of sex is absolutely taboo in most cases and it is a rare case when parents explain to their adolescent children why they are experiencing changes in their bodies. Mizo teenagers mostly learn about the sexual changes that are occurring in their bodies through older friends who may still be not too clear about it themselves. Sex being a part of nature, the Mizo society needs to be more open on this subject so that morality and immorality can clearly be defined by the younger generation. Sexual urgings are part and parcel of all life forms on earth with human beings deriving more pleasure from the sexual act than other life forms.

The sexual act can be an act of love while it can also be an act simply for the sake of satisfying one’s sexual needs. While the latter is purely part of nature, it can be the cause of sexual crimes and immorality if not controlled. Therefore, the lapses in imparting sex education in the Mizo society need to be remedied to check the escalation of sexual crimes and immorality. The immorality that is surfacing in Mizoram in the past few years must not be allowed to go unchecked; while the onus for this falls heavily on the churches, it is also the duty of every parent and adult in the society to see that the society regains its former moral strength and fibre. While we cannot stop the advances in technology from entering our lives, we can do something to control it. It is the mind that is important and if children from an early age are taught what is morally wrong and right, the moral problems that this generation is experiencing would be problems that would never surface again. Homes, schools and devotional places have a responsibility to discharge this duty and this responsibility needs to be considered with all seriousness.

Source: DelhiThurawn.net (Newslink, Mizoram)

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