This past Wednesday, a little-known Islamic outfit, Khamman Peer Baba Committee, issued a fatwa against actor Jimmy Shergill for his role in the soon-to-be-released romantic thriller Shorgul. Also, included in the fatwa were the film’s producers and director. The Committee believes that the film, which is only loosely based on the Muzzaffarnagar riots, hurts the sentiments of the Muslim community.
According to the film-makers, there is already an unannounced ban on the film particularly in the cities and towns of Uttar Pradesh, such as Muzaffarnagar, Kanpur, Ghaziabad and lucknow. Film distributors and cinema-hall owners have refused to show the film fearing violence, bloodshed and anarchy. So much so that the producers have had to postpone the release of the film to July 1 and are hoping to meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sooner than later to resolve the mess. Now, none of this is breaking news. In fact, it has sadly become quite common for fringe groups like the Khamman Peer Baba Committee to seek their 15 seconds of fame by calling for the boycott of a film that they believe hurts the sentiments for their clan or community or just simply creating a ruckus over such non-issues.
But perhaps what is even more worrying is that there is increasingly a certain amount of tolerance or acceptance of such nuisance by the rest of society including the left-liberal commentariat that is otherwise the most vocal on free speech issues. For example, they rave and rant (and rightly so) when an Udta Punjab is sought to be censored; they celebrate (and rightly so) when the public ignores the opposition from fringe Hindu groups to a film like PK and patronises the film nonetheless. Yet, when a Jimmy Shergill and his team face a fatwa from a Muslim group, they are nowhere to be seen or heard. Such hypocrisy from those who claim to be the nation’s conscience keepers! But perhaps, once shouldn’t be surprised – for after all, it was the left’s darling, Rajiv Gandhi, who as Prime Minister banned Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses even before Muslim nations could get to it; decades later, it was the leftist Government of West Bengal that failed to protect Tasleema Nasreen as she was hounded by Islamists and forced to flee.