‘Maalik’ against spirit of National Action Plan, Sindh High Court told

Censor board opposes director's petition against movie ban

KARACHI: The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday that the film Maalik projects a 'celebrated and heroic death' of a former Afghan jihad mujahid, which is against the spirit of the National Action Plan (NAP), being successfully implemented by the political and military leadership of the country.

While filing its comments to a division bench, the CBFC vehemently opposed director Ashar Azeem Gill's petition against the ban on screening his movie in cinemas across the country.



"The central character of the film is a feudal politician, who rises to the seat of chief minister through unfair means," said CBFC vice-chairperson, Adnan Akram Bajwa, in his response to the court's notice.



"The politicians have been portrayed to be corrupt, immoral and dishonest with the people," he said. Bajwa added that a rape scene of a Pukhtun girl by a Sindhi politician has also been depicted in the movie.

It was argued that the movie has shown the entire political system to be unjust, corrupt and incapable and that all the politicians are busy minting money under the name of democracy.

It was added that as per the complaints of viewers, the movie has targeted all linguistic communities living in Pakistan.

The board claimed that the movie has also humiliated voters by showing the politicians, who are elected through their votes, as villains.



The federal government, by exercising the powers conferred under the Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance 1979, de-certified the film on the basis of such public complaints and stopped the screening in cinema houses, the board said. Referring to the movie's director, the board argued that since the petitioner is a civil servant in BS-19 belonging to Pakistan Customs, therefore, it is mandatory for a serving civil servant to seek prior permission in writing [before making a movie].

It argued that the movie had also shown pungent criticism against the judges, while people associated with judiciary have been shown lethargic who deliberately linger on cases to give undue benefit to influential people.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2016.