‘Tolerance of Hindus…’: Allahabad HC Reprimands CBFC, Govt And Makers For Adipurush | 11 Points

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday told the Adipurush makers that they have ‘shamefully’ tried to only mint money by mocking Ramayana in a ‘funny manner’. Read on.

Adipurush Row: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday heard a petition seeking a ban on the movie Adipurush because of its lack of respect for the Hindu religion. The Lucknow bench of the court pulled up the makers and mentioned the Central Board and the government for not acting against the film yet. The court also called the portrayal of Ramayan in the Om Raut directorial a ‘shameful’ act and mentioned that such disturbing movies shouldn’t be made on any religious text be it Quran, Ramayana, or Bible.

Here are the five things that the court said on Wednesday, clarifying its stance on the movie and the entire row it has triggered:

1. The vacation bench of justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Shree Prakash Singh said there would have been a law and order situation in the country had they made such a film on other religions. “Suppose a small documentary was made on the Quran, can you think what kind of a serious law and order problem would have been created? But because of the tolerance of Hindus, things are not turning ugly despite this blunder by filmmakers,” the court said.
2. The court asked why the film shouldn’t be stopped from screening when it has already created so much chaos and disrespected the feelings of a whole community. “Lord Shiva was shown to be running with his trishul in a movie. Now, Lord Ram and other characters of Ramayana have been shown in a very shameful manner. Should it not stop?” the court said.
3. During the course of the hearing, the bench said that “Should the court remain silent considering the funny manner in which the movie has been made.”
4. Expressing the need to make specific guidelines for making such movies, the bench stressed that films made on religious subjects should not “instigate the religious feelings of any community.”
5. The bench further made it clear that religions only exist outside the court and had someone from another community filed a similar petition, they would have reacted in the same manner to safeguard the sentiments of the people of that community. “If a plea had come up before it in regard to Quran or Bible, it would have taken the same tough stand,” said the court.
6. Justice Singh asked the defenders of Adipurush why don’t make a movie highlighting the sacrifice of Lord Ram and his love for his brother Bharat.
7. When the senior lawyer Sudeep Seth who was representing the production house T-Series argued in the court that there is no book depicting the outfits of Lord Ram or other characters in Ramayana, the court schooled him and asked him if he has read the constitution. “Have you not gone through the original copy of the Constitution of India which contains the pictures of Lord Ram and other gods shown in decent dresses?” This left Seth speechless.
8. The court further asked the senior lawyer if he would be fine with worshipping idols of the indecently dressed Gods in his prayer room.
9. The bench moved to ask why CBFC didn’t object to the film. It asked deputy solicitor general SB Pandey why the central government was not reviewing the certificate granted by the CBFC for telecasting the movie.
10. When Pandey told the bench that it should come out with a solution since many ‘senior members of the CBFC board’ watched the film, the court sharply reacted saying, “Better senses should prevail over such sacramental members.”
11. The court clarified that their stand on the film is clear. It, however, mentioned that they may issue notices to the Adipurush makers to appear in the court themselves.

The Allahabad High Court was hearing the PIL filed by Kuldeep Tiwari and Naven Dhawan seeking a ban on the movie. This was the second day of the hearing. On Tuesday, the bench asked the makers if they think their fellow countrymen are ‘brainless’ that they would accept such a funnily made film on religion.

— with inputs from PTI