'Hindutva groups in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu disrupted the filming of action-comedy Sulthan, starring Karthi and Rashmika Mandanna and directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan, because they thought it was a biopic of Tipu Sultan. The film was being shot near an Archaeological Survey of India protected site on Tuesday night, when members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu Munnani arrived and staged protests. A police officer told the Indian Express that while there was no damage, the shooting schedule was disrupted. “They were in the final stage of shooting.
'Oru Chaayakadakarante Mann ki Baat (Mind Matter of a Tea Vendor), an award-winning Malayalam documentary about the hardships of a tea seller after demonetisation, was supposed to be screened at the Kerala Club in New Delhi on Monday. The event was cancelled at the last minute, though, allegedly after Sangh parivar members threatened members of the club. According to The Telegraph, organisers were told not to screen the movie because it shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi “in bad light”. The screening was going to be followed by a discussion on the economic crisis...'
'While government departments routinely respond to reports and articles in the media by clarifying the official position, the Union home ministry has gone one step further and demanded “action against all concerned” for an opinion piece in a national daily that it tendentiously labeled ‘misinformation’. Writing in the Indian Express on September 4, lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan had questioned the legality of the process adopted by the Narendra Modi government in diluting Article 370 of the constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
'On 10 and 11 July, the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada hosted a global conference on media freedom, in London. Over 1,500 ministers, diplomats, politicians, jurists, academics and journalists from over 100 countries gathered to avow the world’s commitment to promoting media freedom. Vinod Jose, the executive editor of The Caravan, was invited to speak on a panel discussing religion and media.
'Mainstream media was delegitimised over the past five years by the BJP government. Co-option and self-censorship by this media have followed. Alongside, the use of social media has grown hugely, making the likes of Whatsapp powerful weapons in elections.
'The Kerala high court overruled the Centre’s objections to the screening of Anand Patwardhan’s documentary film Vivek (Reason) at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival that is currently underway in Thiruvananthapuram. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting denied permission for the film – whoch looks into the murders of Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, among others – to be screened at the festival. The ministry said the screening could cause a “law and order issue”. The Kerala HC held that this apprehension was not valid.
'From questioning the Pulwama terror attack to praising Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, from criticising the effectiveness of the Balakot strike to making “political” statements against the ruling establishment — at least seven state government school teachers have been suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government for posts like these on their Facebook page or WhatsApp groups. Also suspended is a Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA), a Group-A education service officer.
'...Last week, on March 6, 2019, during the hearing of Rafale review petition in the Supreme Court, AG Venugopal made a shocking statement. He claimed that secret documents of Rafale deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry, reason enough for the Supreme Court to not consider them, as it would be a breach of the Official Secrets Act, he asserted. To the utter disbelief of all those present in the court of the Chief Justice, he further declared that the government was contemplating legal action against the newspapers that published these documents...
'“The death of a cow has more significance than that of a police officer,” said actor Naseeruddin Shah in an interview released on December 17. He was referring to the December 3 tumult in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, in which violence by cow vigilantes from the Bajrang Dal left a policeman dead. Shah highlighted these events as an example of India’s fraught communal climate and the impunity enjoyed by people who commit such acts of violence. To all reasonable people, there was nothing wrong in what Shah said.
'A scheduled public screening of a documentary by a former student of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), who was one the leaders of the 139-day strike in 2015, was cancelled by the varsity’s administration on Thursday, just a few hours before the screening was to take place. Harishankar Nachimuthu, who was president of the FTII students’ union during the 2015 protest, has alleged that the administration received threats from the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and cancelled the screening under pressure.
