Right-wing group objects to screening of film at NFAI, says it showed Indian Army in bad light

PTI, Feb 12, 2024, 8:30 AM IST

Pune: Members of a right-wing organisation on Sunday barged into the premises of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) objecting to the screening of a docudrama, claiming that it showed the Indian Army in a bad light, a police official said.

The protesters belonging to Samast Hindu Bandhav Sanghatana were detained and released after being issued notices under the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, the official said.

The incident took place when a docudrama, titled ‘I Am Not The River Jhelum’, was being screened as part of NFAI’s ‘A Festival of Contemporary Indian Films’.

Shouting slogans, the protesters demanded that the screening be stopped, the official said.

Ravindra Padwal, president of the right-wing organisation, said they objected to the film after learning that some of the scenes in it cast the Indian Army in Kashmir in a bad light.

“Some people who were in the audience informed us about such a portrayal of the Army in the film. By the time we reached there, the movie was about to get over. We objected to the scenes and raised slogans in support of the Army,” said Padwal.

He said they demanded that the director show them the docudrama and explain his side. When they were discussing the matter with the organisers, the police came and took them to the police station, said Padwal.

“Even if people follow a certain ideology, be it progressive or regressive, they should be proud of the Indian Army. If the director has projected the Indian Army in a bad light, it amounts to sedition and an offence should be registered against him,” he said.

The film festival at NFAI was held from February 9 to February 11, during which many award-winning films in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Manipuri-Tangkhul, Rajasthani-Hindi, and Khasi-Jaintia-Garo-Hindi were screened, said the organisers.