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India's Supreme Court stays the release of (another) anti-Muslim film
Several Islamic groups have called for action, saying that "Hamare Baarah" depicts the community in a "provocative and offensive manner." This case comes after "The Kerala Story", a film about three Indian women who join the Islamic State that sparked violence last year.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – The upcoming release of a new film is once again stirring up debate in India.
This morning, India's Supreme Court stayed the release of a film titled Hamare Baarah until the Bombay High Court rules on a petition challenging its release, tomorrow.
India's highest court found that the content in the movie trailer is offensive and discriminatory against the Muslim community to the point that it could justify a ban on the screening of the film.
A first petition presented to the High Court (which had already authorised the release of the film) cites Article 19 of the Indian Constitution relating to reasonable restraints in the interests of security and sovereignty, and Article 25, relating to the freedom to profess one's religion.
The petition went on to ask the Central Board of Film Certification to intervene, but the review committee responded by saying that all controversial scenes and dialogue had been deleted and that some videos circulating online were not part of the official trailer.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court deemed it necessary to set up a different review committee and postponed the film release to 14 June. Since the committee said it would take too long to submit a detailed report, the court later cleared the release of the film.
Lawyer Fauzia Shakil referred the matter to the Supreme Court saying that the Central Board of Film Certification failed to play an impartial role because several offensive scenes had not been removed from the trailer.
The Supreme Court, in addition to staying the release of the film, ordered the Bombay High Court to decide on the case as soon as possible.
The ruling comes after the Karnataka government postponed the film’s release because it could cause "communal riots".
Several Muslim groups demanded action, saying that Hamare Baarah depicts the community in a "provocative and insulting manner.” And this is not the first time.
Last year, Kerala Story, a story about three Indian women who joined the Islamic State, sparked violence and discrimination against Muslims.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – the ultranationalist Hindu party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was recently re-elected for a third term – has openly promoted propaganda against India’s Muslim community in the last 10 years, even passing a series of discriminatory laws, including one on citizenship for only non-Muslim refugees from South Asia’s Muslim-majority countries.
Meanwhile, India’s recent parliamentary elections reduced the BJP’s influence, forcing it to govern with two coalition partners, the Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party, that less interested in Hindu propaganda.
Over the past few days, leaders of both parties have said that the implementation of the BJP's flagship Uniform Civil Code should not be a unilateral decision.
The code is a set of rules that regulate marriage, divorce, succession, and adoption for all citizens, matters that are currently handled by various religious and tribal groups, based on community-specific laws, largely derived from religious scripture.
Several legal experts have said that the code risks erasing the personal legal practices of minority communities.
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