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New heights of intolerance

Bans on films in this country are not slapped by the government alone. They can be enforced just as effectively through threats and intimidation. This is the message sent out by the reprehensible boycott of the big-budget Hindi film Fanaa in Gujarat. The fear of reprisals from political quarters has forced the State's movie theatres to refrain from screening the Aamir Khan-starrer. Unusually, the provocation for the boycott is not the content of the film but the views of the lead actor on social and political issues — principally, his support for the cause of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. The two organisations that represent Gujarat's cinema owners have tried to give the impression that the boycott has been called "on their own" and because of Aamir Khan's so-called anti-Gujarat stand. But it is apparent that it was fear rather than any ideological difference that was the real reason. They were intimidated by a culture of intolerance and by apprehensions that their movie houses may be damaged if they exhibit the film. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has been at the forefront of running a malicious campaign against Aamir Khan ever since he joined forces with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. And the BJP Government in Gujarat has seemed only too willing to keep up the heat on the Hindi filmstar, by maintaining a discreet silence while assorted members of the Sangh Parivar have portrayed him as an enemy of the State and demanded a ban on all the films he has acted in. Rather than take steps to protect movie theatres from those who threaten to take the law into their own hands, it has behaved in a manner that suggests it is complicit in the conspiracy to ban the film.

Aamir Khan's criticism of the handling of the recent communal riots in Vadodara may be another reason for the Narendra Modi Government's attitude towards him. But if a person's political beliefs are going to be the ground for deciding whether his films are screened or not, then the message is ominous. Does this mean Gujarat will open its doors only to those who support the State Government's line? This is not the first time Aamir Khan's film has been targeted in Gujarat. Soon after he expressed support for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the State's movie houses were forced to withdraw his hugely successful Rang De Basanti, after party workers from the BJP and the Congress staged protests against him and declared they would not allow his films to run in Gujarat. Some of those responsible for the campaign against Aamir Khan have suggested that an apology for his "anti-Gujarat stand" would put an end to the entire controversy and make it possible for his films to be screened in the State. But it is not the talented actor who must apologise. The real apology is due from the intolerant, chauvinistic forces that have taken irrationality to new heights by forcing a boycott on a film because of something totally unrelated to it: one man's personal convictions.

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