Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj on Friday said screening of Hindi film Kedarnath has been stopped across the state, a day after the state High Court dismissed a plea seeking to ban the movie. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar said the film has been banned in seven districts, reported PTI.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat chaired a meeting on Thursday evening after a committee headed by Maharaj submitted a report and decided not to officially ban the movie, reported Outlook. The state, however, asked district magistrates to decide on the matter depending on the situation in areas under their jurisdiction.
“Our committee has forwarded our advice to [the] chief minister [and] decided that law [and] order should be reviewed,” Maharaj told ANI on Friday. “We asked district magistrates to maintain peace [and] everyone has decided that Kedarnath movie should be banned. The movie is banned everywhere in state.”
Maharaj said the movie “is not according to our culture and the film can instigate people”, reported News18.
The movie stars actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan and is set in the backdrop of the 2013 floods that ravaged the state.
The High Court on Thursday dismissed the plea of petitioner Darshan Bharti, who claimed the movie has hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community. The petitioner said the movie promoted “love jihad”, reported IANS.
“Don’t see the movie if you don’t like it,” a division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ramesh Chand Khulbe told the petitioner, according to The Times of India. “We are not the censor board. We are a democracy and everyone is free to exercise their rights. State shall ensure law and order is maintained.” The court told Bharti to raise its objections with Maharaj’s committee.
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