New Delhi: The Bangladesh High Court on Monday banned the promotion and screening of “Faraaz”, a movie directed by Indian filmmaker Hansal Mehta, in the nation’s cinema halls and on-line platforms.
Based on the real-life terrorist assault that ravaged a Dhaka cafe in 2016, ‘Faraaz’ is a hostage drama starring Juhi Babbar, Aamir Ali, Zahan Kapoor and Aditya Rawal, amongst others.
After listening to a writ petition, the excessive courtroom bench of justices Md Khasruzzaman and Md Iqbal Kabir delivered the order to ban the screeing of the movie in Bangladesh.
The writ petition was filed by Ruba Ahmed, the mom of Abinta Kabir who was killed by militants in the assault on the Holey Artisan cafe on July 1, 2016. The Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been made the defendant in the writ petition.
The movie is but to be authorised by the Bangladesh Film Censor Board.
On January 19, Ruba Ahmed had raised the similar demand to stall the launch of the movie in Bangladesh claiming that it might tarnish the fame of Bangladesh.
Later, the petitioner’s lawyer, Ahsanul Karim mentioned the petition was filed to cease projecting the movie on cinema halls in Bangladesh in addition to on on-line platforms, Dhaka Tribune reported.
“The footage in the movie shows two militants talking, one of whom was or is in a relation with Abinta. Her dress up was shown in such a way that educated families in our civilised society would never wear. The character of the girl was degraded in the movie,” mentioned Karim, in line with Dhaka Tribune.
“Also, the movie showed the failure of the law enforcement officers which poses serious questions about our sovereignty. For these reasons, this movie should not be shown on any platform in Bangladesh,” Karim added.
