“Disrespect” to national anthem while watching K3G pushed man to file PIL in SC

The story behind the PIL which led to SC order on national anthem.

Updated on: Dec 1, 2016, 09:11:50 IST

Hindustan Times | By Neeraj Santoshi, Bhopal

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Shyam Narayan Chouksey, the man whose public interest litigation (PIL) led to the Supreme Court’s order on Wednesday that the national anthem must be played before any movie is screened at a public theatre, says he is a Gandhian by heart and karma.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday made playing of the national anthem mandatory before a movie is screened at a public theatre. (HT Photo)

“For me national anthem represents the pride, the struggles and the sacrifices made by our people, our leaders, our freedom fighters and specially Mahatma Gandhi for freeing this country from the tentacles of the colonial rule. Can’t we even spare 52 seconds to give due respect and honour to the anthem that represents so much?” 76-year-old Chouksey told Hindustan Times after the Supreme Court’s historic order.

He says his fight for ensuring due respect to the national anthem started when he saw Karan Johar’s movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham at a theatre here in 2001.

“When national anthem was sung in the movie, I was surprised to see that there was no reaction in the audience. Apart from me only a few stood up to pay respect. Some people sitting behind even objected to our standing up. I couldn’t bear the disrespect.”

“When national anthem was sung in the movie, I was surprised to see that there was no reaction in the audience. Apart from me only a few stood up to pay respect. Some people sitting behind even objected to our standing up. I couldn’t bear the disrespect. So I staged satyagrah outside the theatre later and put banners, distributed pamphlets to make people aware about respecting the national anthem,” he says.

In 2002, Chouksey filed a case in the Madhya Pradesh high court against the use of national anthem in a commercial venture and its dramatisation. A year later, the high court banned its screening till the scene was removed from the movie, but the producers approached Supreme Court and got a stay.

In 2005 the Supreme Court set aside the Madhya Pradesh high court’s order to delete that portion of the movie where the national anthem was sung.

“Finally I decided to file a PIL in the Supreme Court last month to take the fight on the issue to the national stage,” he says

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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