JONATHAN TURLEY

Life Following Art: Bollywood Movie On Forbidden Love Between A Muslim And Hindu Is Banned In Pakistan

Pakistan has again shown the dangerous affiliation of religious discrimination and censorship. The Central Board of Film Censors in Pakistan has banned the movie Raanjhanaa due to a “controversial plot” in which a Muslim girl falls in love with a Hindu man.

Chief Executive Officer of IMGC Global Entertainment Amjad Rasheed, the importer of Raanjhanaa, told the media that the board objected to “an inapt image” of a Muslim girl who falls in love with a Hindu man and that it cannot be shown to audiences in Pakistan. Ironically, the movie deals with the religious barriers to the couple and at first the man hides that he is a Hindu. The girl’s family eventually sends her off to protect her from such a relationship. Now the Board will assist by barring people was watching such a movie.

In the end, such censorship will fail and I hope that the underlying prejudices will also eventually be made the stuff of retrospective movies. However, in the interim, the story plot and reality have found a sad consistency in Pakistan.

Source: Tribune