Forcing the blinkers: Caught between the scissor and the screen

K-P government to set up provincial censor board to approve films, dramas.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has announced a provincial censor board will be set up to approve local films and CDs of Pashto dramas released in the province.

After the 18th Amendment, policy related to art and culture was devolved to the provinces. So far the K-P government has not devised any such policy or board which can provide approval certificates. It now plans to present a draft bill on the formulation of a censor board to the assembly, after gaining the cabinet’s approval.

Policy on culture and the creation of a censor board remained a bone of contention even during the Awami National Party (ANP)-led government. No conclusions were reached even after much deliberation by cultural critics in the province.

Minister for Culture and Information Shah Farman said the board will comprise four members and will issue censor board certificates for the films and CD dramas.

The popularity of dramas spiked after Muttahida Majli-e-Amal’s cultural polices limited arts and entertainment, which resulted in the closure of Nishtar Hall. It was eventually reopened by the ANP government. But militancy in the settled and tribal areas has forced many artists to flee the country in fear of their safety, and to date militants threaten CD shops with letters and bomb blasts.

With a censor board, the minister claimed films and dramas produced in the province will be in accordance to cultural and religious values of the region.

According to Farman, a draft bill has been prepared which will be presented in the assembly after the approval of the K-P cabinet. Once the censor board is in action, it will keep a check on the purveyance of violent and vulgar material. One of its aims will be “preventing the imposition of foreign culture on the people of K-P”.

As a result of the devolution of power, a province without its own censor board has to get appropriate approval certificates from the federal government. However, in Peshawar, cinemas have been releasing films without approval certificates.

While the K-P government has mandated film producers to take approval from the centre under the Motion Picture Act of 1979, the producers of CD dramas are not subject to any such rules.

Reaction to the redaction

Though filmmakers welcome the steps taken by the provincial government towards establishing a censor board, there are those who express reservation about a board without clear policy.

“What will be the criteria,” questioned Yunus Qiyasi, a poet and scholar. “And how exactly does the government plan on censoring the countless CD dramas and films produced?” he questioned.

“We need a well chalked out, uniform policy as the censor board is bound to get controversial once it is created.”

He asked the government to separate the culture department from the information department. A separate department incorporating the provincial heritage and museum department must be created, argued Qiyasi.

“Much like the previous government, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has promised to pass the draft bill to form this board. However, there is hope it will materialise this time,” said Musafar Khan, a major producer of CD films and dramas in Peshawar.

“The rules have to be clearer, it makes no sense to give authority to four people to approve or disapprove our work. Around what rules would they censor the films?” asked Khan. A cultural policy must precede a censor board, stressed the producer.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2013.