Dispute over Udta Punjab between Procurer and CBFC: Vineet Joshi

Chandigarh, June 9, 2016: The dispute with regards to Udta Punjab is between Procurer Anurag Kashyap and CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification, known by its misnomer as Censor Board). We, as the Government of Punjab and also as the political alliance of ruling Shiromani Akali Dal - Bharatiya Janata Party in the state have neither written any letter nor issued any statement.
"It is without any reason or logic, or due to vested interests, that our name is being dragged into this controversy," Vineet Joshi, Asst Media Adviser, Govt of Punjab, said here today at an Anti-Drugs Round Table Conference, jointly organised by the Joshi Foundation & the Punjabi Virsa Sabhacharak Society, Mohali.
As this country knows only too well, the Akali Dal and the BJP not only stand for freedom of expression but have also fought fiercely for it. The top leaders of Shiromani Akali Dal as well as theBharatiya Janata Party went to jail to safeguard the freedom of expression and were among the front ranking fighters when Emergency was imposed and freedom of expression and constitutional values were murdered in this country, said Joshi.
Those who have become the self-styled champions of freedom of expression in the last 72 hours because their commercial film was delayed by a few hours by the CBFC should introspect as to how much did the Bollywood fight when this country's constitutional values were challenged. The number of people in Bollywood who have tried to bring out the story of massacre of Sikhs sponsored by a political party can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and none of the people who were trying to defame Punjab across various TV channels are among them.
The saddest part of the entire controversy is the sense of timing and proportion that Kashyap and his ilk have chosen.
On the same day when the joint house of US Congress was hailing India for its robust democracy and liberal values, Anurag Kashyap chose to compare the country with North Korea.
Being a Bollywood director/producer, his sense of timing can only be called perfect or atrocious, depending upon whether you want to defame Punjab or recognize the bravery of its people and the hard work of its farmers.
Incidentally, Anurag Kashyap’s productions have always courted controversies. His movie, BlackFriday was banned in 2004 during UPA government, Paanch never got released because of CBFC's objections to violence and abusive language, then came Water, with his screenplay, which was initially banned but later released after numerous cuts in 2007, Gulaal in 2009 was initially rejected but later released after numerous cuts, Ugly was released after it remained stuck with CBFC for not including warning about smoking. All the movies were mired in controversy during the UPA government when Sharmila Tagore was CBFC chief. I am surprised as to why India didn't turn into North Korea when his movies were questioned by CBFC, with Sharmila Tagore as Chairperson during UPAs regime.
"Commercial success, failure or frustration can be understood, rubbishing the self-respect of Punjabis and comparing India with North Korea cannot be tolerated," concluded Vineet Joshi.