A week after the film was released and when protesters had abandoned their demand of banning it, the Madhya Pradesh Government on Friday banned Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar, claiming that it wanted to avoid a major law and order problem. This, despite the fact that its Commercial Taxes minister, Babulal Gaur, had watched the movie and not found anything objectionable in it. “The decision has been taken on law and order ground,” Gaur said, adding, “it’s not politically motivated.”

The decision has shocked the distributors, especially because MP has seen the least trouble from the Rajput community. The Central Cine Circuit Association has given 24 hours to the Government to revoke its decision. The treasurer of the association, Jitendra Jain, was furious. “How can they stop a movie that has been cleared by the Censor Board, and that too, a week after it has been running successfully in theatres? If the Government fails to lift the ban, theatre owners will observe an indefinite strike,” Jain said.

“This is dictatorship,” Indore-based Ankush Mehta, a business associate of UTV Motion Pictures told The Indian Express. “The decision is politically motivated to appease a particular community. How can they call it a law and order issue when they haven’t even made a single arrest so far,” he added.

“The Home Department has said that the film’s screening could lead to a major flare-up. The Chief Minister has himself taken the decision and all collectors have been asked to put the ban into immediate effect,” an officer of the Commercial Taxes Department said.

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