Censor roadblock for 'Banglar mukh ami...'

KOLKATA: Saumya Sengupta's 'language imperialism' documentary titled 'Banglar Mukh Ami Dekhiyachi' has not yet been certified following the recommendation of the examining committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The latest update on the CBFC dashboard states it is "pending for application for review from revising committee".

Though TOI tried to get in touch with CBFC's regional officer Sushrut Sharma, he was unavailable for comments. The Cinematograph Act clearly states that a film shall not be certified for public exhibition if "the film or any part of it is against the interests of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or involves defamation or contempt of court or is likely to incite any offence."

CBFC sources claim that the chances of a volatile situation being created by Sengupta's attempt to highlight uncouth and irresponsible remarks to substantiate the ill-effects of language imperialism can't be ruled out.

Sengupta's documentary traces Garga Chatterjee's fight against 'Hindi imperialism in Bengal' and how Hindi is being imposed on non-Hindi states. Sengupta's documentary questions why Hindi is being "wrongly thrust upon" as the national language of India. "A national language is to do with a country's socio-political and cultural functions while the official language is to do with government affairs. A national language is spoken by a large part of a population and may or may not be the official language of a country. We do not have a national language in our country. Hindi in the Devanagari script and English are our official languages," the director said.

Old newspaper clippings dating back to 1965 have been used as inserts. "One clipping details how a headmaster in Kulithalai of erstwhile Madras state set himself on fire after the proclamation of Hindi as India's only official language. There were reports of demonstrations over the language debate down South. Another clipping has a photograph of the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru with an assurance from him to the South stating 'no imposition of Hindi'," Sengupta added.

The documentary also hints at the spelling change of the words 'Bande Mataram' to 'Vande Mataram' as an after-effect of the rise of language imperialism. "I have used the masthead of 'Bande Mataram' - an English newspaper founded in 1905 by Bipin Chandra Pal and edited by Sri Aurobindo," Sengupta asked.

CBFC insiders believe that there is more in the documentary than just these clippings. The documentary's fate now depends on the verdict given by the CBFC's revising committee.


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