Home minister seeks ban on release of Muhammad: The Messenger of God

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has written a letter to Union minister of electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad demanding ban on digital

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has written a letter to Union minister of electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad demanding ban on digital release of the film Muhammad: The Messenger of God. Deshmukh said the movie, which is scheduled to be released on July 21, may hurt sentiments of a particular community.

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“The movie, if released on scheduled date, will be considered an attempt to blasphemy by a particular community and can potentially disturb religious sentiments. The film is likely to create religious tension leading to law and order problems in the country. Using the powers under section 69A of the Information Technology Act, we request you to block/suspend those digital platforms on which the movie is being released. You are also requested to issue instructions/directions to all digital platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, WhatsApp to ban the release of the film,” the letter stated.

The move comes after the home minister received a complaint from Raza Academy.

Saeed Noori, president of Raza Academy, said, “The film was scheduled to be released in 2015 in theatres, but after we raised the objection, the release was stopped. Now it is set to be released on OTT (over-the-top media service), to which we have strongly objected. It is an Iranian film and is against the teachings of our religion. Projection of Prophet is not allowed in Muslim religion. It could lead to the religious tension.”

Maharashtra Cyber department, too, has written a separate letter to the senior director of the ministry to halt the release of the movie.