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Court refuses to grant stay
Bhagat Singh films march to the marquee
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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to grant stay on a writ petition moved by relatives of martyr Bhagat Singh against screening of four films on the freedom fighter's life.
The petition was moved by Sandeep Bansal
on behalf of Paramjit Kaur, daughter of Rajinder Singh, the younger brother of Bhagat Singh.
Speaking with rediff.com Bansal said he had filed the petition on May 29 against the screening of four different films on Bhagat Singh. The matter came up for hearing before a double judge bench on May 31 comprising Justice J L Gupta and Justice N K Sud.
"We had filed a 14 page petition asking the court to grant stay against the screening of the films on Bhagat Singh as they presented distorted versions of the life of the great Indian martyr. While one film showed Bhagat Singh singing a song with his beloved, the other one went on to show that he had even worn wedding garlands. Both these incidents are untrue and amounted to distortion of historical facts. Bhagat Singh had no time for such things," Bansal argued.
The two judges after hearing the matter issued notices to the concerned producers, Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and have listed the matter for June 12 for further hearing.
Refusing to grant the stay, the judges observed that the petitioner had moved the court too late and it would not be proper to stop the screening of the films.
Professor Randhir Singh, who has done extensive research on Bhagat Singh, said he felt outraged when he heard that the filmmakers had distorted facts to cater to their box office demands. "They could have done worse. You can expect anything from them," Randhir Singh told rediff.com from his Chandigarh residence.
Noted dramatist Gursharan Singh, who is planning to stage his new play on Bhagat Singh, said historical facts could not be distorted under the guise of creativity. "I am shocked to hear the filmmakers have introduced a girl in Bhagat Singh's life, so they can sell their film.
"He was a dedicated communist and he hardly had anytime for such frivolous activities. In fact one basic fact the filmmakers have been ignorning is his leaning towards communism. He was a great nationalist, but he was a communist too," Singh adds.
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