Rejecting suggestions of supporting a ban on the movie ‘Padmavati’, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday clarified that he had neither supported a ban on the movie nor backed those issuing threats to the actors and crew of the film.
At the same time, he also decried attempts by “some vested interests” to misinterpret his statement on the issue, while calling for restraint amid the volatility prevailing on the issue.
Capt Amarinder made it clear that he was totally opposed to the threats being issued by certain hardline elements to the actors and directors of the film but reiterated that anyone feeling hurt by distortion of historical facts had the right to peaceful agitation. A distinction needs to be drawn between threats and protests, he added.
“How can I seek or support a ban on the movie when I have not even watched it,” asked Capt Amarinder, refuting the unfounded conclusions that had been drawn from his statement in which he had on Monday said that if there had been any attempt to distort history then protests against the same were justified.
Nobody can be denied the right to disagree with others and protest peacefully in a civilised and democratic system, but nobody, neither an individual nor an organisation, has the right to threaten someone with whom he or she does not agree on any issue, he said.
“I totally condemn all people who are issuing threats and expect the law to take its course against them,” he said, adding that any attempt to vitiate the country’s peace and disturb its harmony needs to be dealt with effectively.
In his statement on Monday, Capt Amarinder had said that as a military historian, who had studied history and even been to Chittoor, he felt that distortion of historical facts was unacceptable.
Cinematic license did not give anyone the right to twist historical facts, he had further said, adding that protests were a justified recourse in a democratic system.