Haryana 4th state to ban Padmaavat after CBFC nod
NEW DELHI/JAIPUR/LUCKNOW: After Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Haryana on Tuesday became the fourth state to ban Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat citing “law and order situation in the state”.
Before the assembly polls in Gujarat in November last year, the state government had banned the film, which was earlier titled Padmavati.
Based on 16th century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic poem Padmavat, the movie stars Deepika Padukone in the titular role while Ranveer Singh plays invader Alauddin Khilji. Shahid Kapoor essays the role of Maharawal Ratan Singh.
Haryana minister Anil Vij was quotes by a news agency saying, “The chief minister earlier said we will take a decision after censor board passes it. In this meeting, I said it should be banned in Haryana keeping in view the law and order situation. Cabinet supported this and we decided it will be banned in Haryana.” He also tweeted about it. Last week, Gujarat banned the film.
NOTICE TO CBFC CHIEF
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday issued a contempt notice to censor board chairman Prasoon Joshi in connection with the release of Padmaavat. The Luc- know bench of the court passed the order on the petition filed by Kamta Prasad Singhal, who submitted that he had filed a PIL seeking a ban on the film because it promoted the tradition of Sati, which is an offence.
After hearing the PIL, the court had on November 9, 2017 dismissed the petition but, simultaneously, permitted the petitioner to move his grievance to the CBFC. He moved the representation before the Joshi on November 13 but the latter is yet to decide on it. The three weeks given to him by the HC, expired.
KARNI SENA PROTESTS
In another show of strength, the Shri Rajput Karni Sena on Tuesday took out a massive rally in Dholpur, Rajasthan demanding a countrywide ban on the film’s release.
Dholpur was chosen as the location for the rally as it is situated on the Uttar Pradesh border. “We want the Yogi Adityanath government in UP to ban the film, as the Haryana government has already declared a ban ...” a senior member said to IANS.
“We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the issue and ban the movie across India. We met home minister Rajnath Singh on January 14 and apprised him of the challenges the country will face once the film is released,” he added.