[Reader-list] 21 cuts demanded by Censor Board on "War and Peace"

[Harsh Kapoor]

Press Release
21 cuts demanded by Censor Board on "War and Peace"

The battle to free "War and Peace" from the murderous grip of the 
censors continues unabated. The film won the best film/video award at 
the government run Mumbai International Film Festival in February 
2002. In June the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) ordered 
6 major cuts in the film. When we took the film before the Revising 
Committee, the cuts increased from 6 to 21. An appeal against the 
cuts has been filed before the Apellate Tribunal, New Delhi.

Lack of Transparency
So far the CBFC has shown a completely partisan attitude towards War 
and Peace. Even before an official viewing committee had been 
constituted, the Regional Officer of the CBFC intervened personally 
to stop authorized screenings of the film at a government run 
festival in Calcutta. After the CBFC panels saw the film, contrary to 
established norms, the filmmaker was repeatedly prevented from 
discussing the film with members of these panels on the flimsy 
grounds that "there was no consensus." However consensus was 
eventually reached and the consensus is that amongst other things, 
even the mildest criticism of the BJP must be deleted !

By not allowing the filmmaker the right to discuss the "cuts" with 
those demanding them, the principle of transparency was thrown to the 
winds. On one occasion when the filmmaker did have an informal 
conversation with members of the Examining Committee, he discovered 
that two out of four members were known functionaries of the ruling 
BJP.  Indeed the 21 cuts finally asked for by the CBFC body, now 
headed by a former BJP legislator from Gujarat, do not reflect "a 
lack of consensus" but seem to be drafted with a single-minded 
political agenda.

Sample Cuts (Complete version available on demand)

Cut 1.	"Delete the visuals of Gandhiji being shot by Nathuram Godse"
Even for someone expecting the worst from the CBFC, this cut comes as 
a shock. Is it now illegal in India to state that Nathuram Godse 
killed Gandhi?  The visuals in question (a close up of a country-made 
revolver being fired) have been taken from an old documentary film 
made by the Gandhi Film Foundation. The Censor Guideline 2(xii)  used 
to justify the cut  is" visuals or words contemptuous of racial, 
religious or other groups are not presented;"  CBFC does not specify 
who they wish to protect from contempt.

Cut 2."Delete the visuals of hands being cut with a blade and signing 
with blood by Hindus."  
This sequence shows people (not necessarily only Hindus) who 
celebrated the nuclear tests by signing messages of congratulations 
in their own blood. The BJP conducted many such campaigns across the 
country. The Guideline 2(iv) referred to is:  "pointless or avoidable 
scenes of violence, cruelty and horror, scenes or violence primarily 
intended to provide entertainment and such scenes as may have the 
effect of desensitizing  or dehumanizing people are not shown;"  A 
visit to any Bollywood film will prove how lax CBFC is about 
gratuitous violence in the entertainment driven commercial cinema. In 
contrast the express purpose of "War and Peace" is to denounce 
violence and sensitize people against the kind of jingoism and 
machismo depicted by the scene in question.

Cut 5.      "Delete the commentary 'BJP is faced with growing criticism"
This is the first of a number of cuts which blatantly attempt to 
prevent the slightest criticism of the ruling party and is as such, 
completely unconstitutional. The scene in question is the 
inauguration of a pro-bomb music video by the BJP and the commentary 
factually states: "With criticism growing against the bomb, the BJP 
invites the press to the launch of a music video." CBFC sites two 
guidelines to justify their cut:  2(xii)  "visuals or words 
contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups are not presented;" 
and 2(xvii)  "public order is not endangered;"
It is impossible to understand how either of these guidelines is 
applicable. A political party seeking popular support must face 
criticism.  It is not the job of the Central Board of Film Censors to 
protect the BJP from criticism. Nor is peaceful protest outlawed in 
our country.

Cut 7   "Delete the entire sequence, visuals and dialogues spoken by 
Dalit leader
               including all references to Lord Budha (sic 
)"                                       
This cut refers to a sequence in which a Dalit neo-Buddhist argues 
that it is a travesty that nuclear tests were carried out on Buddha's 
birthday and that the Buddha's name was used as a military code to 
mark the tests despite the fact that the Buddha, in contrast with 
gods in the Hindu pantheon, has always been depicted as unarmed. 
Needless to say the self-evident irony of this sequence is crucial 
for the argument in the video. If we learn to question the very 
concept of Holy War, not only would it help build communal peace, it 
could also help to rebuild our fractured nation. The guideline evoked 
2(xvii)  "public order is not endangered;" cannot but cause 
amusement. In scores of private and public screenings no violent mood 
was detected. The truth whether the CBFC like it or not, is that "War 
and Peace" works as an antidote to violence and not an incentive to 
it.
                                                   
	                                                                                               
  Cut 8.   "Delete the reference to BJP uttered by villager." 
	                                  
No villager utters anything about the BJP. The utterance is by a 
lawyer in Pokaran city who states that he is a long time member of 
the BJP. There is no reason to delete this. Once again the CBFC is 
revealing its true agenda by wanting a pro-bomb lawyer to hide his 
party affiliation.
                             
Cut 9.  "Delete the entire sequence and visuals and dialogues spoken 
by Dalit leader commencing from  "Nathuram Godse high class (sic) 
brahmin
high class killed him
"
The fact that a Brahmin killed Gandhi cannot be written out of 
history. This Dalit song describes the killing of Mahatma Gandhi by a 
Brahmin in contrast with the fact that although Dr. Ambedkar had 
serious differences with Gandhi, when the latter had undertaken an 
indefinite hunger strike against Dr.Ambedkar's demand for separate 
electorates for Dalits, Ambedkar compromised his stand in order to 
save Gandhi's life. This song is the remembrance of a historic event 
by those whom our caste system oppressed for centuries!

Cut 11.  " Delete the visual of 'Hindu rath' "
The rath(chariot) in question is not a "Hindu" rath but a BJP 
election vehicle dressed up to look like a rath. Why should it be 
deleted? If the BJP is allowed to use it during elections, is the 
filmmaker not allowed to film it as it passes by? If the very act of 
filming it invokes Censor Guideline 2(xii) ( "visuals or words 
contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups are not 
presented;") then what about "the contempt of racial, religious or 
other groups" that those who ride in raths inflict in real life?

Cut 14   "Delete the RPI speech especially deleting the dialogue 'Not 
poverty but poor are eliminated' "
Having already eliminated two important interventions by Dalits - the 
Buddha speech and the Gandhi song - the CBFC is obviously on the look 
out for more. The singers who sing the words "They said they would 
eliminate poverty but instead they eliminated the poor" are peace 
marchers singing about politicians who waste precious money in the 
arms race. Once again the CBFC is invoking law and order as if an 
anti-militarist song can cause a revolution for peace! What a lovely 
thought!

Cut 16.   "Delete the visuals of Hon'ble President of India, Dr. Adul 
(sic)Kalam."   
Neither guideline 2(xviii) "visuals or words involving defamation of 
an individual or a body of individuals, or contempt of court are not 
presented" nor guideline 2(xiv)  "the sovereignty and integrity of 
India is not called in question" comes to the defence of this cut as 
Dr. Kalam is not being defamed. On the first occasion he is shown 
receiving a high honour and on the next, he makes a speech invoking 
India's aspiration for greatness and military preparedness. As such 
this is a faithful reproduction of the values Dr. Kalam regularly 
espouses. If in the context of the film these values do not seem so 
attractive, this has more to do with the evidence amassed in other 
parts of the film and less to do with the personage of Dr. Kalam, 
whose integrity is never questioned.
      
Cut 17. "Delete the reference to BJP."
The cut has been directed under Guideline 2(xii). Here the journalist 
Achin Vanaik argues that the BJP and other forces have used 
nationalism in the nuclear area but have surrendered sovereignty to 
the USA in economic and cultural fields. Such criticism is perfectly 
legitimate. The Board is not BJP's keeper.  Legitimate criticism of a 
political party and even frontal opposition to it is absolutely 
permissible and cannot be curtailed. This cut is again reflective of 
the strong bias operating in the decision making process.
	   
Cut 18.  "Delete the entire sequence of Sadhaivi (sic) Ritambara 
including reference to Lord Rama."  
If by merely deleting Sadhvi Rithambara's utterances in the film one 
could stop her from spewing venom, the filmmaker would gladly oblige. 
But by not accurately reporting the hate speeches of people like 
Rithambara, the media has prevented the public from realizing the 
extent of the danger they represent. The fact that in the film her 
utterances are juxtaposed with those of Islamic jehadists from 
Pakistan, brings home the point that there are holy warriors on both 
sides of the border. This realization undermines their damage 
potential and encourages peace lovers on both sides to find a 
solution before it is too late.

As for the invocation of guideline 2(xii), it has been remarked in 
several judgements by the Supreme Court that in order to effectively 
combat evil one may first depict it. Just as almost no one who 
watches the sequence where Pakistani fundamentalists burn the Indian 
flag while demanding the annihilation of India would sympathize with 
the flag-burners, so, few will sympathize with the madness of 
Rithambara's words calling for the annihilation of Pakistan. On the 
contrary barring the ideologically pre-determined, all those who 
watch "War and Peace" are likely to imbibe some of the peace message 
that permeates its every pore.

Cut 20     "Delete the entire sequence of Tehelka wherever it occurs 
in the film."          
Over 4 hours of these Tehelka tapes showing hidden camera footage of 
corrupt arms deals were broadcast nationally at prime time. The tiny 
extracts seen here are a mere reference to what the public saw at 
length on almost every channel.  Cutting it would amount to a denial 
of history as the film merely quotes from what the mainstream media 
has already widely shown. Many of those who appeared in the Tehelka 
tapes have confessed their guilt. A fact-finding commission has so 
far held the tapes to be authentic. Until such time as the matter 
goes to a proper court, there is no issue of its being sub-judice. 
The commentary that accompanies the visuals is appropriately 
descriptive and factual.

Cut 21.     GENERAL CUT  "Delete the entire visuals and dialogues of 
all political leaders, including President, Prime Minister& Ministers"
Surely in a list of shockingly undemocratic cuts this must rank as 
the worst of all. The censor board has deemed it unnecessary to 
pinpoint exactly which leader's visuals and dialogues they disliked 
so much that the public should be protected by suitable deletions. 
The heading GENERAL applies to all. The Censor deems it illegal to 
report the speeches of Ministers, President, Prime Ministers and all 
Political Leaders. Do we have a new Secrecy Act? Should all 
politicians wear a mask from now on, and speak only in code? If a 
person's own utterances are considered defamatory of himself, surely 
this can only be done on grounds of insanity and if that is the case, 
should such a person be allowed to remain in office ?

While a cursory glance at the cuts demanded by the CBFC exposes its 
blatantly pro-ruling party bias, reverse inference should not be 
drawn. War and Peace  is not a film against any particular party. If 
the BJP is criticized in places, so is the Congress Party for having 
tested the first Bomb in 1974. Where the Tehelka armsgate in which 
the present ruling coalition seems embroiled is mentioned, so is the 
Bofors scam which undid the Congress Party in the past.

War and Peace begins and ends with the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi. 
Focusing on the danger of nuclear war in the Indian subcontinent the 
film goes on to describe the problems faced by people living near 
nuclear testing and mining sites, the horror of Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki, the culpability of the USA in using Atom bombs on a nation 
that was about to surrender, the globalization of the arms trade, but 
most of all it derives its power and emotional appeal from the 
growing movement for peace both in India and in Pakistan.

I trust that the Appelate Tribunal will uphold principles of 
democracy and resist attempts to shoot the messenger instead of 
allowing people to listen to the message
.


Anand Patwardhan
24 August 2002

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