JAIPUR: A documentary film maker trying to expose the politics of fake encounters in Gujarat through his movie was hounded out of the city on Thursday on the pretext of threat to peace and public order, much to the disappointment of civil rights groups that wanted to apprise the people of the dangers of State violence perpetrated against citizens.
Ironically, the Pink City Press Club – which had earlier agreed to organise a show of Shubhradeep Chakravorty’s film in its auditorium – backed out and cancelled his booking. When Mr. Chakravorty, frustrated after prolonged arguments with the Press Club functionaries, left for Muslim Musafirkhana here, the police chased him and did not allow him to show the movie there as well.
The police detained Mr. Chakravorty briefly and took him to an undisclosed location, where senior officers watched some portions of the film. He was then asked to apply formally for screening the movie or pack up and leave the city immediately.
The documentary, “Encountered on saffron agenda?”, is based on the investigation of four encounters in Gujarat, which Mr. Chakravorty said not only violated the victims’ fundamental right to life and liberty but were used exclusively to “demonise minorities and strengthen the politics of hatred”.
The freelance film maker, who earlier worked with Doordarshan, said he had tried to find out the truth behind the police stories and politics of encounters through interviews of the victims’ families, independent investigators, lawyers and eyewitnesses.
When Mr. Chakravorty tried to reason with the Press Club functionaries, general secretary Pankaj Soni flatly told him that a “controversial” film could not be screened on the premises and there was no issue of freedom of expression involved in it. Mr. Soni said there was a likelihood of rightist groups attacking the Press Club if the movie was shown there.
“A sensitive matter"
Members of civil rights groups, invited to watch the film, offered to take Mr. Chakravorty to Muslim Musafirkhana. However, the police followed the convoy and told the film maker that the movie could not be screened without permission of the district administration as it involved a “sensitive matter”.
A disgusted Mr. Chakravorty told reporters that it was unfortunate that an institution of the fourth estate, which should have protected his freedom of speech, had forced him to seek shelter in a “minority ghetto” where the police hounded him to ensure that he did not speak up.
Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Minority Morcha gathered at the Musafirkhana and raised slogans against Mr. Chakravorty while accusing him of disturbing communal harmony in the city.
The police then detained the film maker and took him to an undisclosed location, from where he left for his home in Delhi late in the evening.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha later demanded registration of a case of sedition against Mr. Chakravorty, saying he had tried to “eulogise terrorists who were out to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi”. BJYM State president Ashok Lahoti expressed gratitude to the Press Club for not allowing the film’s screening.
Mr. Chakravorty said he had shown the movie to private audiences earlier in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, for which no certificate from the Film Censor Board was needed. “The police and Press Club in Jaipur hounding me out on bogus grounds is despicable,” he added.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties, taking exception to the harassment of the film maker, said the BJP and its sister organisations deliberately created a law and order problem to justify the ban on the film’s screening. It said the film was shown at Vinoba Gyan Mandir here on February 22 without any trouble.
The documentary has covered the encounters of Sameer Khan Pathan (October 2002), Sadiq Jamal (January 2003), Ishrat Jahan and Javed Sheikh (June 2004) and Sohrabuddin Sheikh (November 2005) in Gujarat. Mr. Chakravorty said it was also in support of the next of kin of the victims who were living under the allegation of being family members of “terrorists” and facing difficulties in their day-to-day lives.
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