ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee’s voice in favour of the controversial period film Padmavati has put her in a spot on the backdrop of her government’s gag on a television serial some four years back.The Bengal chief minister dubbed the controversy around Padmavati as a state of “super emergency” and potentially threatens the freedom of expression. State government agencies had indefinitely blocked airing of a megaserial scripted by Bangladeshi-origin authorin-exile Taslima Nasreen in December 2013. Telly series Dusahabas had encountered violent protests by Muslim groups in the city.“The Padmavati controversy is not only unfortunate but also a calculated plan of a political party to destroy the freedom to express ourselves. We condemn this super emergency. All in the film industry must come together and protest in one voice,” Banerjee tweeted on November 19.Dusahabas’ fate has been hanging fire for years. Despite protests by artists’ forum in and outside the city, the TV series failed to go on air and remains banned. The author had requested the chief minister to lift the ban but to no avail.Mamata’s tweet on Padmavati has touched a wrong chord with Nasreen. “The producer and director were developing my story to a mega series. They had shot around 100 episodes after which the ban was imposed. The Muslim fanatics in Bengal, supported by the ruling Trinamool Congress played havoc when the serial was to be aired. The chief minister was instrumental in imposing the ban. It is interesting to see that the same person is now advocating for freedom of expression and calling it super emergency,” Nasreen told ET. “This is sheer double standard.”Nasreen feels that the controversy over Padmavati is needless. “If some people do not like a representation of art, there are other ways to counter it. I never support violent attack on artistic freedom. I also do not support the trend of issuing fatwa. But, there are politicians, who support or protest on the basis of religion. Why are rules being tweaked for one particular community in Bengal? Why did Mamata Banerjee’s government never allow me to work there, allow my books to be published? Freedom of expression, the most important character of a democracy, is always under attack for vested political interest. Nobody criticises things neutrally,” Nasreen said.Mamata’s stand on Padmavati has also drawn flak from the intelligentsia as well. “In opposing Padmavati and in supporting it both the MP CM and the WB CM are playing communal politics. Shivraj Singh Chouhan is a hardcore Hindutvawadi; as for Mamata Banerjee , if she believes in artistic freedom let her invite Taslima Nasreen to live and work in West Bengal,” historian and columnist Ramchandra Guha tweeted on Tuesday.