Gupta yields to pressure on 'Water'

By P.K.Roy

LUCKNOW, FEB. 7. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Ram Prakash Gupta, who was torn between the pressures from the highest quarters in New Delhi to help the NRI filmmaker, Ms. Deepa Mehta, shoot her controversial film Water, and the stubborn stance of his party-persons, ministerial colleagues and Sangh Parivar outfits has been forced to take a decision to ban the shooting of the film for two weeks.

The turn of events in Varanasi following the suicide attempt by a Shiv Sainik led to the atmosphere in the holy city becoming tense. It became evident that the use of heavy force, which was summoned to facilitate the shooting, could trigger widespread violence in a city known for its record of communal conflagrations; and hence the decision to disallow the shooting, despite the clearance given by the I&B Ministry, since law and order is a State subject. Till Sunday morning, the Chief Minister pleaded helplessness to delegations from different outfits of the Sangh Parivar, which did not include the RSS, to stop the shooting. He threw enough hints that the Centre wanted the shooting to continue notwithstanding opposition by several saffron groups and the threat by the VHP chief, Mr. Ashok Singhal, that the shooting would not be allowed even if it leads to the fall of the Union Government.

Both the Centre and the State were monitoring the situation in Varanasi almost by the hour. The district administration had deployed four battalions of Rapid Action Force, one battalion of Provincial Armed Constabulary, 192 constables and several senior police and civil officials.

The working president of the Kashi Sanskriti Raksha Sangharsha Samiti (KSRSS), Mr. Narain Misra, was on a fast-unto- death when shooting began under heavy police protection. A protest meeting was under way at Assi Ghat. However, the attempted suicide by a young Shiv Sainik, Mr. Arun Pathak, resulted in the protesters resorting to violence. The news of the attempted suicide spread like fire and people were out on the streets. The district administration immediately stopped further shooting and escorted the members of the film unit to the safety of their hotel.

While this development was in progress in Varanasi, a four-member delegation comprising office-bearers of the Kashi Vidyut Parishad, the highest body of Vedic scholars of the city, and a few university teachers, met Mr. Gupta armed with portions of Water's script, which they felt was highly offensive and would tarnish the image of the holy city. Mr. Gupta melted to this pressure to some extent, but all the while pointed to the pressure from the Centre. He was aware that the situation was fast deteriorating and could take an ugly turn any moment.

Naga sadhus' arrival

A call for a total bandh in the city on Tuesday had already been given and protest processions were being taken out in different parts of the city and effigies of Ms. Mehta being burnt. Another development was the arrival of at least five Naga Akhara chiefs, including of the biggest Juna Akhara from different parts of the State in Varanasi and their plan to bring in thousands of Naga sadhus to take on the administration. The Naga Akhara chiefs had arrived in response to the stern warning of Mr. Singhal that the film could be shoot only over his dead body.

All the while, the Chief Minister, who owes his office to the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, and could not go against his biddings or for that matter those of the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, apprised them of the simmering situation in Varanasi as also the views of the Kashi Vidyut Parishad.

The BJP was at the receiving end what with even the Uttar Pradesh Congress(I) Committee chief, Mr. Salman Khurshid, advising Ms. Mehta in a press interview not to hurt the sentiments of the people and delete the portions deemed offensive. He had wondered why the Centre had permitted the shooting of such a controversial film. The Congress(I) stance only added to the embarrassment of the ruling party. The BJP was shown standing divided over the issue, and this seemed pathetic, thus forcing the Chief Minister to take a decision.

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