In a last minute move, Jadavpur University has banned the screening of Buddha in a Traffic Jam, a film by Vivek Agnihotri.
In a letter to director of the film, Sumit Majumder, a senior research fellow at department of physics at the university called the authorities’ decision the “deepest blow to the Freedom of Speech in the country.” A copy of the letter is available with The News Minute.
He said that the reason cited for the cancellation was that it violated the model code of conduct for elections but that doesn’t quite fit as left-leaning posters are regularly put up in the premises without censorship.
“Political slogans and posters are regularly put on in the campus by the left political parties without being censored .So how can a non-political platform be denied entry into an auditorium at the last minute for screening a film passed by the censor board,” he argued.
Anupam Kher, one of the actors in the film, also said that the ban was unreasonable and quite “ridiculous”.
“No organization should ban a film without watching it. The students themselves called Vivek (director). If the students themselves wanted the screening, why should the university stop it,” he challenged.
The film shows how a professor brainwashes his students into sympathizing with the Naxals.