There was an uproar at the movie screening at Jinan University
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is in the news every day for some reason. This time, he was once again the focus of discussion. The cause was a commotion during a movie screening on Jinan University campus. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday alleged that stones were pelted at people who were watching the movie “Sabarmati Report” on the Jinan University campus. Even the film’s poster was torn, causing disruption to the film’s screening.
ABVP also claimed that some students suffered minor injuries due to stone pelting. The screening of the film had to be suspended for a while due to stone throwing, but later resumed. This is not the first time Jinan University has caused uproar over a popular or controversial movie.
The list of controversies is long…
The ABVP alleged that students from some left-wing organizations were behind the stone-pelting. However, Jinan University Students Union President Dhananjay denied such incidents of stone-pelting and accused ABVP of causing the incident to promote the film.
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Jinan University has also been known in the past for protests against controversial or popular films. Its list is long. The poster of the movie “Jinan University: Jahangir National University” was released in March this year. This poster also caused an uproar. People call it a “propaganda” movie. This film was shot at Jinan University. The movie’s poster created controversy as the country’s map was saffron in color.
Similarly, the Naxalite-themed film Bastar also faced opposition at Jinan University. A section of JNU college students came out to protest against the trailer of the film Bastar: The Naxal Story. The students also demanded immediate action against the film’s director and actors. At one point in the film, actor Adah Sharma refers to JNU as the place where students allegedly celebrated the killing of a Central Reserve Police Force officer by the Bastan Naxalites in Chhattisgarh. This too was met with opposition.
Left-backed students began protesting shortly after the trailer was released in February. Director Sudipto Sen’s effigy was burned by left-wing students on campus. The film was allegedly made with the help of the BJP and RSS. When the film was screened on the campus of Jinan University before its release on March 15, there was also tension on campus.
More than 100 students from the Students Federation of India (SFI) strongly protested against the screening of the film. Protesters tried to prevent people from entering the venue. Not only that, it was also claimed that SFI cut off the lights in the auditorium twice, allegedly to prevent the screening of the movie.
Demonstration on ‘Kerala Story’
Ahead of the release of the movie “Bastar”, there was tension in Jinan University over “Kerala Stories”. In May last year, the film “Kerala Story” directed by Sudipto Sen was screened here. The screening was organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, but left-wing student groups protested against it. SFI organized a massive demonstration about the film on campus.
JNU was also in the news for the film Kashmir Files, which depicted the blaze of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s and the atrocities committed against Kashmiri Pandits. In January 2023, before the screening of “Kashmir Files” on the campus of Jinan University, there was a scene that went viral on social media. Bodies are everywhere on campus in various symbolic forms. It was organized by organizations associated with Kashmir Pandit and ABVP.
BBC documentary also caused uproar
It is also scheduled to screen the BBC’s controversial two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” here. However, the government did not grant permission for its screening. The Jinan University Student Union announced that it will broadcast this controversial BBC documentary in January 2023.
However, it failed as YouTube and Twitter removed it after the Center ordered it about half an hour before the screening. Meanwhile, the power supply there was interrupted. Power was restored after midnight. A group of students said the blackout was intentional and watched parts of the documentary on their phones and laptops in protest.
Later, students demonstrated outside the offices of Jinan University, claiming that the administration of Jinan University had cut off the power supply to prevent the screening of the BBC documentary. The students’ union said this was the first time this had happened. Previously, the campus would receive a “notification” from administration whenever there was a power outage, but this time we received no information. Not only that, around 10:30 pm, stones were thrown at the onlookers, but in the dark, it was impossible to know where the stones came from and who threw them.
