The Senate Committee on Human Rights on Wednesday directed the Central Board of Film Censors to provide the panel a copy of the film, Zindagi Tamasha, for private screening, after which the members will decide whether it needs to be sent to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for approval.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the committee, in which Danyal Gilani, chairman of the central censorship board, appeared before the panel.
Speaking to reporters, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, who is the chairman of the human rights committee, said that if the panel does not find anything objectionable in the film, they would issue orders for its release immediately. “However, if we find something objectionable in the film, we will forward it to the CII,” he said, adding that so far reports have suggested that there is nothing objectionable in the film.
The senator said that the panel would not come under anyone’s pressure and the parliament will exercise its authority. “We should not come under pressure of those parties who held Islamabad hostage twice,” he said while referring to the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), who had raised objections over the movie.
Meanwhile, in a tweet, the senator said that the committee was surprised to find out that although the film was cleared twice, it was still banned.
The controversy around the film started when its trailer was released. The government had to block its release after TLP objected to its portrayal of a struggling cleric. It was supposed to hit the cinema screens on January 24.
The TLP had started an online campaign, demanding to ban the ‘objectionable’ film in Pakistan. They had also announced a country-wide protest, which was later cancelled following intervention from the government .
Later, filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, claiming there were attempts to stop his film from releasing despite it being cleared by the central censor board.
On January 28, a four-member committee was set up by the CII for reviewing the film and was directed to submit a report to CII Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz.
On February 5, while addressing addressing party workers and supporters at Faisal Chowk, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi had said that he would not let the film release at any cost.
“We will not let the film, Zindagi Tamasha, release and will do whatever it takes to make sure it does not see the light of day,” he had said, adding ‘jo karna hai kar lo’ (do whatever you can).
