(Pervez Bari): The Central Secretariat of Popular Front of India, (PFI), has requested the filmmakers to give due respect to the belief systems and sentiments of different ethnic and religious communities in our plural society while exercising their right to produce films.
A Press release issued by O. M. A. Salam, PFI’s General Secretary, said that repeatedly many films have invited the public fury on the ground that they had aroused caste prejudice and communal hatred. Unfortunately, the so-called global war on terror sponsored by the U. S. and its allies as an attempt to justify aggression and mass murder is getting a receptive ear in Indian cinema also. Some of the recent films produced by Bollywood and Mollywood ditto the American arguments, present Muslims as perennial villains and strengthen the stereotypes.
Sacred sources and traditions of Islam are depicted as sources of motivation for indulging in terrorist acts. The criticisms and protests against such films by aggrieved communities are not to be downplayed or condemned since they also have the right to express their feelings. The PFI’s Central Secretariat, however, cautioned the aggrieved not to be carried away by mere emotions and to exercise their protests only through democratic and legal means, the release stated.
Meanwhile, the Central Secretariat while welcoming the latest Supreme Court Order to maintain status quo of 67-acre land adjacent to demolished Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya, expressed disappointment over the permission granted to change tarpaulin roof and ropes on the illegal makeshift temple erected after demolition of Masjid.
While 17th February will be observed as Popular Front Day all over the country. Mass rallies called Unity March and other public programmes will be conducted by Popular Front units on the day.
PFI Chairman K. M. Shareef presided. General Secretary O. M. A. Salam, Elyas Mohammed, Mohammed Ali Jinnah and E. M. Abdul Rahiman attended the meeting, the release informed. (pervezbari@eth.net)