It was recently that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh called for a ban on filmmaker Majid Majidi’s 2015 made film Muhammad: The Messenger of God. In his letter, the honourable minister mentioned that the ban was called after a complaint was received from Raza Academy, an academy that promotes Islamic religious beliefs, which made serious allegations that the film would hurt religious sentiments of many in the country. In reaction to the ban, filmmaker Ashok Pandit penned down a letter to the Home Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Anil Deshmukh, condemning his decision, and asking him to look into the matter.
On Twitter, Ashok Pandit shared pictures of the letter and tweeted, “Dear @AnilDeshmukhNCP Ji, Your letter to ban #MajidMajidi’s film #Muhammad at the behest of a radical organization like @razaacademyho, that was responsible for destroying the #AmarJawanJyoti in #Mumbai, will set a horrible precedence for the democratic values of #India.” Moving ahead, he requested Anubhav Sinha, along with other members of the film fraternity to react and support.
In the thread tweet, Pandit tagged Anubhav Sinha, Soni Razdan, Farhan Akhtar, Mahesh Bhatt, Sudhir Mishra, Hansal Mehta, Nandita Das, Konkana Sen Sharma, Shabana Azmi, Reema Kagti, Rahul Bose and other filmmakers and actors from the film fraternity to extend their support to filmmaker Majid Majidi. Reacting to the tweet, Anubhav Sinha tweeted, “Pandit Ji, my personal experience with the CBFC under this Govt has been fantastic on three separate occasions. I would wait for the Minister to respond to this letter.”
Dear @AnilDeshmukhNCP Ji,
— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) July 15, 2020
Your letter to ban #MajidMajidi’s film #Muhammad at the behest of a radical organization like @razaacademyho, that was responsible for destroying the #AmarJawanJyoti in #Mumbai, will set a horrible precedence for the democratic values of #India. pic.twitter.com/O8AcYjPlYn
Ashok Pandit in his reply went on to question Anubhav Sinha’s decision of waiting for the Minister to respond to the letter and wrote, “Why wait dost. ? Shouldn’t We condemn the state home ministers' request to ban the film & show our solidarity & support to a great filmmaker like #majidmajidi & #ARRehmaan before the damage is done ?” In his reply, Anubhav Sinha tweeted, “I trust my Central Govt on this one.” The Thappad director mentioned that he trusts the Central government, as in the BJP government, on this issue and will wait until the minister reacts. Also Read: Anubhav Sinha Asked To Make A Film On Slain Gangster Vikas Dubey; Filmmaker Replies ‘Koi Banaane Nahin Dega Sir’
Pandit Ji, my personal experience with the CBFC under this Govt has been fantastic on three separate occasions. I would wait for the Minister to respond to this letter. https://t.co/ThxnjMo6Pp
— Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) July 15, 2020
I trust my Central Govt on this one. https://t.co/aH8rHvPtYG
— Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) July 16, 2020
Meanwhile, earlier, Anubhav Sinha has faced similar difficulties when his film Article 15 was banned in Roorkee. Sinha took legal action against the ban on the Ayushmann Khurrana starrer.
Image source: Instagram/ Anubhav Sinha; Wikipedia, english.sakshi