'Aarakshan' banned in UP, AP, Punjab

NEW DELHI: The national dalit watchdog said makers of ' Aarakshan' had inserted reservation polemics as a marketing gimmick, backing the sentiment against the movie which received cold response from states with Punjab and Andhra Pradesh joining Uttar Pradesh in barring its screening on Friday.

Chairman of National Commission for SCs P L Punia said the panel had asked the Censor Board to remove five objectionable dialogues which appeared deliberately put in for effect. "The theme of the movie is commercialization of education and not reservation. Quota has just been used as 'masala' for publicity," he said, adding that many dialogues in the movie could be deleted without affecting the narrative.

While Punia said his role ended with the letter to Censor Board chairperson Leela Samson, the volatile nature of backward-dalit politics ensured all-round hostility. Uttar Pradesh banned the movie on Wednesday night after a viewing by an expert panel. The response of the strongest OBC turf seems to have had a cascading effect with Punjab and AP following suit. In Maharashtra, OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal had his say earlier.

OBC parliamentary forum chairman Hanumantha Rao shot off a letter to I&B minister Ambika Soni, warning of possible trouble if the movie was screened without deletion of objectionable parts.

The hype may have many hopping but it has not surprised observers who see the reaction as natural in the backdrop of debate on reservation, with society divided between strong pro- and anti-quota camps.

Vivek Kumar, sociologist from JNU, said, "The producer has not grasped the enormity and sensitivity of reservation issue which enjoyed constitutional legitimacy for 60 years. Now, there is growing sensitivity of a literate segment among erstwhile excluded castes who are not willing to take assault on their identity like calling reservation a dole or using metaphors like 'kawwa moti khayega' for quota beneficiaries."

The backward lobby has long seen a section of society as ranged against reservation in jobs and education for students, with memories of Mandal protests in early 1990s revived by the row over quota in central institutions in UPA-1. The recent judicial activism over quota issues, once seen as a holy cow, has further exacerbated the fears.

OBC chieftains feel use of reservation as the theme in a movie only stokes the hostility among upper castes, more so if it shows a group as victim of reservation regime.

There were shades of competitive politics in the OBC heartland with Mayawati's ban orders coming after her bete-noire and Congress MP P L Punia hogged the headlines by opposing the movie as anti-reservation. The dalit czarina appears to have tried to gain parity among the dalit-OBC constituency by slapping the ban. Punia, however, said, "I am happy that UP government along with Punjab and AP are supporting me."