New Delhi: Though theatre owners in Gujarat had refused to screen Parzania, Rahul Dholakia’s film based on the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat, the state's opposition Congress has now come forward to screen it and "expose" Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
"We plan to screen Parzania at public places across the state. Let the people watch the film without fear," Gujarat Congress spokesman Himaunshu Vyas said on Tuesday.
Vyas along with other state leaders including Congress legislative party leader Arjun Modhwadia were in the Capital to meet Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi to discuss the controversy over the film.
The film, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika, narrates the travails of a Parsi family whose son went missing in the communal clash in Ahmedabad on March 1, 2002.
The violence in the state left at least 1,000 people dead. Rights organisations and several political parties had blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for not bringing the situation under control early on.
While the film had an all-India release on January 26, theatre owners in the state refused to screen it following alleged threat from organisations close to the BJP.
"It is an unfortunate scenario in Gujarat. The movies that are cleared by censor board, the so-called cultural police in the state decides not to allow it to be played," Modhwadia said.
According to the Congress leader, the theatre owners were "scared" to play the movie in the halls. "Modi's rule is a reign of terror," he said.
Last year, multiplexes and theatre owners in the state had decided not to release Aamir Khan-starrer Fanaa following protests from both the Congress and the BJP over the actor's stand on the Narmada dam - seen as the state's lifeline.
Comments
0 comment