‘Poor’ portrayal of minorities in films, NCM seeks govt reply

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 12

The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for clarification and response on a series of representations from members of the Sikh, Christian and Muslim communities over poor portrayal of minorities in films.

This month, Sikh leaders petitioned the commission over “funny, disparaging and unfavourable” representation of Sikhs in several films and said the portrayal was not in line with the tenets of Sikh religion or practice.

The NCM also received complaints from the Christian community of Tamil Nadu with respect to “negative portrayal of the community in Tamil film Rudra Thandavam”. A complaint from Muslim petitioners objected to negative stereotyping of the community in films.

Iqbal Singh Lalpura, National Commission for Minorities chairperson, told The Tribune there was no provision for appointing minority community members on the censor board.

“The NCM proposes that minority community leaders having knowledge of the history and philosophy of their communities be appointed to the CBFC so that they can pay due attention to sensitivities while certifying films. We have called I&B Ministry officials for a meeting in December in this respect,” said Lalpura.

The proposal

The NCM is proposing the appointment of minority community members having knowledge of their religion to the censor board so that they can take care of sensitive matters at the time of film certification.