CHANDIGARH: The
Punjab government on Tuesday maneuvered away from the controversy it had almost gotten itself into over the release of movie '
Nanak Shah Fakir' on the life of Guru Nanak Dev. While first planning to not allow the film to release in Punjab even after the Supreme Court's order on Tuesday to all the states to allow it to be screened, the government by the evening said it was not banning the movie as the filmmaker had no plans to release it here.
CM
Amarinder Singh said since the filmmakers had submitted before the Supreme Court that they would not be releasing the movie in Punjab in view of the sensitivity of the issue, no intervention was required from the state government. He also said the state government would review the situation and take an appropriate decision if the same becomes necessary in the future.
Whereas, after the highest temporal seat of Sikhs -
Akal Takht - had on Monday ordered a ban on release of the movie, the state government had sought intelligence inputs. The government had on Tuesday morning got a report from the DGP (intelligence) Dinkar Gupta raising concern about possible law and order problem in the state in case the movie was released in theaters.
Earlier in the morning, on film producer Harinder Singh Sikka's petition, the Supreme Court directed all the states to ensure smooth release of the film. However, few hours after the order, the state government had already made up its mind to ban release of the controversial film in state theatres on the basis of intelligence inputs. Directions were issued to the concerned officer before noon to release the order in this regard. Even officers in the CM's office confirmed to mediapersons that the state has decided not to allow release the movie keeping in view of the law and order situation, and to maintain harmony among people.
But, interestingly, by the evening the state government changed its stand and the chief minister clarified in his statement that his government had issued no orders for banning the movie in Punjab as was being stated in a section of the media. By not directly ordering a ban on the movie, the state government also saved itself from non-compliance of the apex court directions.
