The Uttarakhand Government has reportedly decided to ban the recently released Kedarnath in order to maintain law and order in the State. Minister of Tourism for the state, Satpal Maharaj, told ANI that the matter has been forwarded to the Chief Minister for necessary action.
“Our committee has forwarded our advice to CM and decided that law and order should be reviewed. We asked district magistrates to maintain peace and everyone has decided that Kedarnath should be banned.”
Maharaj also added that he did not like the film’s title. He suggested that the film should have instead been named Qayamat aur Pyar.
The CM reportedly reviewed the findings by the committee (formed earlier this week to probe complaints against the film) led by Maharaj and has decided that the district magistrates must decide if they allow screening of the film based on the situation in their areas. Thus far, the magistrates of Nainital, Haridwar, Dehra Dun and Udham Singh Nagar districts have banned the release of the film.
Ban imposed on screening of film "#Kedarnath" in seven districts of #Uttarakhand: ADG (law and order) Ashok Kumar.- PTI@itsSSR @Abhishekapoor #SushantSinghRajput #SaraAliKhan pic.twitter.com/lP1pSbGcmy
— Free Press Journal (@fpjindia) December 7, 2018
The core story features a Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim boy and this depiction seems to have not sat well with some people, and the movie has been facing protests in the region.
In November, the chairman of the Kedarnath priests, Vinod Shukla said in a statement, “We will launch an agitation if the movie is not banned as we have been told that it hurts the Hindu religious sentiments by promoting ‘love jihad'(an alleged campaign under which Muslim men target the non-Muslim women for conversion to Islam).” Earlier this week, the film was hit with several legal suits demanding a ban.
The Bombay HC quashed a PIL seeking to ban the film recently while the Uttarakhand HC also followed suit.
