The film, Parzania, based on the horrific attack on Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad in which 39 people were burnt alive, can be exhibited in any place in India except in the state of Gujarat. The Gujarat government has not banned its exhibition. What is the reason for this strange phenomenon?

The Bajrang Dal has issued veiled intimidatory warnings to cinema theatre owners who are exhorted to keep the interest of the state in mind before screening the movie. Theatre owners and exhibitors are hard-headed businessmen, not passionate champions of freedom of expression. In view of practical ground realities they have chosen not to ignore Bajrang Dal’s ominous admonitions and have taken refuge in self-censorship. This is deplorable. It is reminiscent of the times when freedom of expression was severely threatened by militant groups in Punjab and J&K who dictated to the press what should or should not be printed upon pain of bodily harm. A respected editor in Punjab was assassinated for expressing views which were unpalatable to the militants. We cannot afford even the possibility of recurrence of such sordid events.

Censorship, legal and extra-legal, is a serious inroad on freedom of expression. Censorship is highly subjective and essentially mindless. The main motivation for censorship is intolerance. Conventional wisdom and official ideology cannot be allowed to be questioned and criticised and must suppressed. Portrayal of historical events which depict a government or certain persons or groups in an unfavourable light cannot be tolerated and should therefore be suppressed by recourse to censorship. One of the grounds for demanding the non-exhibition of the movie is the anticipated likelihood of law and order problems owing to the revival of painful memories.

... contd.