UCA News
Contribute

India

´LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST´ FILM BANNED IN NEW BID TO APPEASE RELIGIONS

Updated: October 25, 1988 05:00 PM GMT
Support Asia's largest network of Catholic journalists and editors
Support Asia's largest network of Catholic journalists and editors
Share this article :

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has given assurances that the film "The Last Temptation of Christ" will not be screened in India.

Gandhi´s assurance, given Oct. 15 in response to a memorandum which he had received from some Christians, is the third time within two months that media works termed by different religionists as offensive have been banned in India.

In late August, a Malayalee stage play based, like the film, on the novel of the same name by Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis, was banned by a court ruling in southern India´s Kerala state.

Also, the federal government Oct. 5 seized and banned the novel "Satanic Verses," which was claimed to have sections offensive to followers of Islam.

"There is no question of screening any film which will hurt the religious sentiments of the people," the joint secretary of the prime mininster´s office wrote in a letter to S.M. Lall, director of Bethany Art Center here.

That Protestant center sent Gandhi the memorandum to ban the film Oct. 2, following a protest march involving Baptist, Methodist, Church of North India, Evangelical, Marthoma, Nazarene and other Church organizations.

The Catholic Church was involved in neither the protest nor the memorandum.

Meanwhile, a report from Darjeeling in east India´s West Bengal state says the Christian forum "Hill Christian Unity" also planned to protest the screening of the film in any part of the country.

Leader P.T. Lam said his forum would send memoranda to Indian President Ramaswamy Venkataraman and to Gandhi with calls for a countrywide film ban.

The government ban on the film follows its decision against the "Satanic Verses" novel by Indian-born Salman Rushdie. Gandhi reportedly had received letters from some parliamentarians saying the book offends Muslim sentiments.

However, the prohibition against the novel has been criticized by Indian intellectuals who accuse the government of yielding to fundamentalist forces.

An Indian Express editorial described the ban against the book as yet another disquieting sign of the government´s inability to withstand sectarian pressure and of its growing encroachment into areas of individual liberty.

The newspaper also said those clamoring to ban the book had not read it.

"The book is not seditious, it does not threaten the security of the state, it is not pornographic or harmful to morals of minors," the editorial said.

Before the film was banned, the Indian Express drew a parallel between it and the Rushdie novel, noting that "despite protests from the Vatican, several associations and individuals, the film has not been banned in any country."

Ahmed B. Zakaria, Islamic Culture Center of India chairman, said "Satanic Verses" is "the product of Salman´s (Rushdie´s) filthy mind and filthy pen."

Congratulating the government for the ban, Zakaria appealed to Christians, Jews and Muslims worldwide to protest the book and to have it banned in the United States, United Kingdom and all Muslim countries.

In other comments, Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait, president of Indian Union Muslim League, said banning Rushdie´s novel showed that the Gandhi government was not "insensitive to the religious sentiments of the people," and Muslim leader Syed Shahbuddin asserted that the ban would strengthen national bonds.

Rushdie asked Gandhi to rethink the decision on grounds that the government move belies India´s claim to democratic values.

Some non-Muslims view the decision on the book as politically motivated, but Gandhi has refused to withdraw his government´s ban, telling newsmen Oct. 14 that the novel might hurt the feelings of certain groups of people.

END

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
November begins with the Feast of All Saints. That month will mark the beginning of a new UCA News series, Saints of the New Millenium, that will profile some of Asia’s saints, “ordinary” people who try to live faithfully amid the demands of life in our time.
Perhaps the closest they will ever come to fame will be in your reading about them in UCA News. But they are saints for today. Let their example challenge and encourage you to live your own sainthood.
Your contribution will help us present more such features and make a difference in society by being independent and objective.
A small donation of US$5 a month would make a big difference in our quest to achieve our goals.
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
YOUR DAILY
NEWSLETTER
Thank you. You are now signed up to our Daily Full Bulletin newsletter
 
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia