Kolkata: The much-anticipated film “The Diary of West Bengal” has been cleared for release after the Calcutta High Court refused to delay its opening in the state on Thursday.
The film, directed by Sanoj Mishra and based on events surrounding the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, was scheduled for release on Friday. Rajiv Kumar Jha, on the other hand, filed a public interest litigation before the high court’s division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, seeking a stay on the release because the screening of the film could harm the state’s atmosphere of communal harmony.
During the previous hearing on Monday, the bench, in a show of confidence in its decision-making process, asked the petitioner if he had seen the movie. When the petitioner replied in the negative, the bench stated that the release of any film cannot be halted in this manner based on assumptions, thereby rejecting baseless claims.
The bench further stated that if the petitioner finds anything offensive in the film after it has been released, he may approach the court and object to the relevant portions. It further emphasised that courts have previously ruled that anyone willing to see a movie could do so while those unwilling could not, thereby respecting the individual’s right to choose.
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In May last year, after the trailer of the movie was released on YouTube, Kolkata Police summoned the director for questioning following a complaint at Amherst Street Police station alleging that the movie seemed to have been made in a deliberate attempt to malign the image of West Bengal.
Last year, the West Bengal government also drew criticism over its ban on the screening of “The Kerala Story” in the state because the contents of the movie have elements that can hamper the air of communal harmony in the state. Its director, Subrata Sen, moved the Supreme Court against the ban, and the apex court finally ordered it to be lifted. The state government faced large-scale criticism from the opposition parties, civil society, intellectuals and celebrities for imposing the ban.
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–IANS
