Ban Emergency in Punjab: SGPC to CM on eve of Kangana movie launch
A day earlier than its launch, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Thursday wrote to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann looking for a ban on the screening of Mandi BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s film, Emergency, within the state.
The movie, a biographical political thriller that delves into the lifetime of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, has been directed and produced by Ranaut and has been embroiled in an argument after Sikh organisations, together with the SGPC and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), accused it of misrepresenting the group and getting info fallacious.
Emergency, which attracts its identify from the 21-month emergency interval imposed by Indira Gandhi from 1975-77, was scheduled to be launched in theatres throughout the nation on September 6 however was shelved after the movie didn’t get clearance from the Central Board of Movie Certification. The CBFC cleared it after the makers agreed to modifications and deletions as recommended by it.
Within the letter, Dhami wrote: “Whereas lodging its protest, the SGPC has already despatched its govt committee decision to the state chief secretary wherein it was clearly acknowledged that the screening of this film wouldn’t be allowed in Punjab as a result of it has been made underneath a scheme to defame Sikhs.”
“The decision demanded the Punjab authorities ban the screening of the film within the state. Nevertheless, sadly, the Punjab authorities led by you (Bhagwant Mann) didn’t take any step on this route. If the film is launched on January 17, it could enrage the Sikh world, which is pure,” the letter learn.
“By hiding info associated to assaults on the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, Sri Harmandar Sahib, the highest temporal seat, Akal Takht Sahib, and different gurdwaras and the Sikh genocide (of 1984), this film works to unfold venom underneath an anti-Sikh agenda. So, we once more demand a ban on screening this film in Punjab. If launched, we might be compelled to strongly protest it,” Dhami added.
SGPC functionaries handed over memorandums to deputy commissioners throughout Punjab in help of their demand. In Amritsar, the memorandum was handed over by an SGPC delegation, led by committee secretary Partap Singh.
Objecting to the depiction of slain militant chief Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale within the movie’s trailer launched a couple of months in the past, Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh had stated, “Sikhs can by no means tolerate imitation of their martyrs in movies. In Kangana Ranaut’s movie, the character of Bhindranwale has been distorted.”
After Sikh our bodies alleged that the group has been proven in poor mild, the SGPC despatched a authorized discover to the makers of the film by its counsel on August 27 final 12 months. Within the discover, the makers have been requested to take away the trailer launched on August 14, 2024, from public and social media platforms and search a written apology from the Sikh group. The discover had demanded the removing of objectionable scenes from the movie.
