25 May 2006

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The virtual ban on the showing of the film Fanna in Gujarat is an indication of the extreme intolerance displayed by the ruling party and its organisations in Gujarat to any dissenting opinion.  The reported assurance of police protection to any film theatre showing the film by the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, is an eye-wash since it is under his leadership that the front organisations of the sangh combine are threatening film theatre owners against showing the film.  The ire of the protesters is against the solidarity expressed by actor Aamir Khan for the  demand for rehabilitation of the thousands of adivasi and peasant families displaced by the Narmada project.

The state government is behaving as if it is above the Constitution of India  which grants the freedom of expression to every individual.  Such actions of the sangh combine in Gujarat under the patronage of the government has serious implications for democratic rights of the people of Gujarat and indeed for all Indian citizens.  The CPI(M) demands that the Modi government and the party he leads uphold the law of the country.