Don't mix politics with Fanaa: Dasmunshi
Priyaranjan Dasmunshi asked the state government to refrain from mixing politics with cinema.
Amidst protests in Gujarat against Aamir Khan's film Fanaa, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi on Saturday asked the state government to refrain from mixing politics with cinema, saying freedom of speech and expression was guaranteed by the Constitution.
"I can only appeal that it will be an injustice to art and (we should) let the people decide on the film," Dasmunshi told reporters at a hurriedly summoned press conference in Mumbai.
The BJP has launched a campaign in Gujarat against the release of the film after Aamir Khan voiced his concern for people affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam project.
Dasmunshi said, "Nothing has been said by Aamir Khan which is contrary to the people of Gujarat or the project and the Government of India is committed to raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam while considering the rehabilitation of the affected people."
Asking Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to take his appeal "sportingly", Dasmunshi said the state government should respect the creative contribution of directors and actors without mixing them with politics.
"The responsibility of exhibiting the film is on the part of the state government but deliberately and politically launching an agitation will be detrimental to the industry," he said.
He said there was no change in the Centre's policy on the Sardar Sarovar dam and the prime minister himself was looking into the matter after the orders of the Supreme Court on the rehabilitation process.
