Left condemns Govt. for denying screening of film based on Rohith Vemula

Condemning the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for denying the screening of film 'The Unbearable Being of Lightness' (based on Rohith Vemula's suicide) at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, the Left on Sunday called it a "direct form of censorship" indulged by the Government, which is not legally right.

"For three films, the I-B Ministry has stopped the screening, including the one on Rohith Vemulla. This is a direct form of censorship indulged by the government and we condemn it. The films should be allowed to be screened. It is legally not right," Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) leader Prakash Karat told ANI.

Earlier, the Congress on Sunday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its political ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) want to suppress the nation with feudal, racial and old traditions.

The festival, which will begin on June 16, is organised by a body under the state government's Department of Cultural Affairs - Kerala State Chalachithra Academy.

The films which need to be screened at film festivals do not require a certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), but they must have a censor exemption certificate from the concerned Ministry as without the exemption, no documentary film can be screened at any festival.

The other films that were denied screening were - In the shade of Fallen Chinar (on the unrest in Kashmir), and March, March, March (based on the student agitation at the JNU).