KATHMANDU, Jan 22: Besides banning the controversial Indian movie Chandni Chowk to China earlier in the day, the cabinet meeting on Thursday directed Foreign Ministry to issue an appeal or notice to show the film only after deleting the controversial portion about Lord Buddha in it.
"We have come to learn that the movie is being screened also in Canada and the US," Minister of Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara told media persons after the cabinet meeting at Singha Durbar, according to our correspondent Kiran Chapagain. “Therefore we have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take initiative in this regard.”
Mahara, also government spokesperson, said that cabinet has asked the foreign ministry to write to the Indian government regarding the film.
The movie incorrectly mentions that Lord Buddha was born in India. “This movie should be screened only after correcting the objectionable part,” Mahara added.
Earlier, amid protests by various student unions and cine artistes, Nepali authorities have banned the screening of the controversial Bollywood movie—Chandni Chowk to China—throughout the country effective from Thursday. [break]
The Home Ministry sent a directive to all regional and District Administration Offices to enforce the ban following a request by Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC).
Various student unions and cine artiste are protesting against the movie, which mentions that Lord Buddha was born in India. The MoIC had written to the Home Ministry on Thursday afternoon to immediately ban the movie in view of the spontaneous protests by the public.
Officials at MoIC said Central Film Censor Board had given permission to screen the movie in Nepal only after deleting the controversial reference about Lord Buddha, who was born in Lumbini in the southwestern part of Nepal. However, the movie was screened in various movie theaters in Nepal without deleting the censored part.
On Wednesday, students affiliated to the ruling Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) had burnt-down posters of the movie and also obstructed the screening of the movie in Kathmandu’s popular movie theater, Jai Nepal.
A senior official at Home Ministry said they have already enforced the ban on the movie in Kathmandu and the country´s second largest town, Biratnagar. “All district administration offices are directed to enforce the ban at the earliest,” said the official, who preferred to remain unnamed.
The movie stars Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, and is the first Indian movie to be co-financed and distributed by Hollywood’s Warner Brothers. It is also the first Indian movie to have been extensively shot in China, apart from India.
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