No objection to 'Udta Punjab' release: Punjab govt

With Bombay High Court today clearing decks for the release of "Udta Punjab", which was caught in censorship row, Punjab government said they had no objection to the movie's release.
"There is no intention of the state government to stop the release of the movie," Punjab Education Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Secretary and Spokesman, Daljeet Singh Cheema said here today.
"It is the people who will decide whether to see it or not," Cheema said while asserting that Akali government had never created any obstacle in the freedom of expression.
When asked to comment on the court's decision, he said they are nowhere in the picture.

"We have not seen the story. We do not know about it and whatever (Bombay High) court has done it is right. It is up to the censor board what decision they take. We as government are nowhere in picture," he said.
Rival political parties had accused Nihalani of trying to subotage the release of the movie, which highlights the drug problem in Punjab, under pressure from the state government as Punjab goes to polls next year.

Cheema, however, maintained that SAD had already said that there was AAP's "hand" in the making of movie, aimed to "defame" Punjab.
Notably Shiromani Akali Dal on June 11 had asked the AAP Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to accept his party's role in making of the film 'Udta Punjab' as his own tweets to welcome movie's co-producer Sameer Nair has exposed the truth that the producer is an "active member" of the party.

AAP today said it has "no links" with 'Udta Punjab' and Nair had quit the party after 2014-Lok Sabha polls.
Reacting to Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh's statement that he would eradicate drug problem within one month if Congress came to power after next elections, Cheema said, "It means he knows that there is no drug problem in the state. When Amarinder stops raking up the drug issue, this problem will end.
"Till elections, both Amarinder and AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, will continue to raise this issue."
Kejriwal, on his part, welcomed the court's verdict on the movie.
Meanwhile, Congress and AAP today welcomed the court's

decision.
"I am glad that the Court has cleared the film with a single cut. Otherwise, left to a partisan censor board, the film would have been bereft of its soul," Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh said in a statement here.
The HC verdict, he added, has vindicated all who stood by the makers of the film as it reflected "the harsh reality of Punjab". Besides, he hoped, it will open the eyes of those who have always "preferred to keep them shut and live in denial".
The former Chief Minister said this should come as a "lesson" for the likes of Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Badal who, in their "characteristic denial mode", instead of admitting and acknowledging the problem, had accused the filmmakers of defaming Punjab, like the way they had accused Rahul Gandhi when he had raised the issue four years ago.

AAP MP from Sangrur Bhagwant Mann and party leader Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi said, the film seems to "depict the reality of the drug menace" in Punjab and needs to be released without any delay.
Mann in a statement said, "As the Bombay High Court has cleared the film for release with one cut, it clearly shows that all the hue-and-cry was being made for political purposes. Now, the Akali-BJP leaders should watch the film closely so that they could know the reality of Punjab."
"Art is the reflection of any society, there should be no politics in that. The Akali-BJP should abstain from politicising institutions related to art and culture," said Ghuggi.

"How can you dictate a maker about the context and plot of any film? Is the Akali-BJP alliance above the Constitution which guarantees the freedom of speech and expression," he added.