‘Emergency’ not screened in Punjab after SGPC protests, Kangana calls it ‘harassment’

A day after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Harjinder Singh Dhami demanded Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann to ban actor-director and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s film Emergency as it ‘defamed the Sikh community’, cinema theatre owners steered clear of screening the movie in the state on Friday.

The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, and several Sikh organisations held demonstrations against the movie outside cinemas, multiplexes and malls across the state.

The film, which sees Ranaut playing the role of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, focuses on 21 months of Emergency from 1975-77. The political drama, in controversy over its censor certificate and allegations that it misrepresents the Sikh community, was released across the country on Friday after several delays.

Seeking a ban on the eve of its release, Dhami wrote to Mann, accusing the film of being “politically motivated with an aim to defame Sikh community”. Activists of Sikh organisations held protests outside cinema halls on Friday morning against the movie.

Most cinemas in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda did not screen the movie. Police force was deployed outside the malls and cinemas in the state.

Jalandhar commissioner of police Swapan Sharma said security has been beefed up in and around cinema halls across the city. “We have held meetings with the authorities concerned of multiplexes and cinema halls for not playing the movie as it will create a law and order situation,” he said.

The Sikh activists had barged into cinema halls in Jalandhar and demanded managers stop advance booking of the movie. “The advance booking of the movie was stopped at many theatres. A memorandum related to the demand to stop the movie screening was submitted with the police,” said Harpal Singh, a member of the Sikh coordination committee.

Police were deployed outside PVR Cinema (Sooraj Chanda Tara), Trillium Mall and Alpha One Mall in Amritsar, where a large number of protesters had gathered in the morning.

The protests were led by SGPC chief secretary Kulwant Singh Mannan, member advocate Bhagwant Singh Sialka, Bhai Ajaib Singh Abhyasi and secretary Partap Singh.

Mannan said that Sikh characters have been portrayed objectionably. “It is unfortunate that the Punjab government has not taken any step to stop the film till now. We welcome the decision of the owners of the cinema halls not to screen the film after the SGPC protest,” Mannan said adding that the SGPC will not allow this film to be screened in Punjab at any cost.

“Ranaut is an MP from the BJP, and the responsibility of an MP is significant. He or she should work to bring everyone in society together, but instead, she is creating divisions...,” Mannan added.

In Ludhiana, the movie was set to be screened in four theatres, said deputy commissioner of police Shivam Aggarwal, however, “after receiving objections from some Sikh organisations, the cinema owners decided not to screen the movie.”

In Hoshiarpur, workers of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) visited several cinemas in the district, urging their management not to screen the movie.

Mohali admn directs mall owners not to screen film

Sikh activists held a protest outside malls and multiplexes in Phase-8, Sector 67 and Dhillon Plaza in Zirakpur. Heavy police force was deployed to maintain law and order.

The Mohali district administration directed mall owners not to screen the movie.

The protesters alleged that Ranaut had used vulgar language against them during the farmers’ 2020 protest. The actor-turned-MP was allegedly slapped by a woman Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable, Kulwinder Kaur, at Chandigarh airport when she was set to board a plane to New Delhi to take oath as an MP last June. The constable had later told interrogators that she was upset with the Mandi BJP MP for her remarks about the farmers’ protest against the farm laws.

No show at Bathinda, tickets refunded

Sikh activists gathered outside a multiplex in Bathinda on Friday morning to lodge a protest against the release of Emergency. The film is not being screened in the district.

Though the movie was scheduled to be screened from today at the city’s only multiplex, but the management of the shopping mall where the theatre is located dropped the idea on Thursday evening. Sources said that following the protest, the management refunded the tickets booked. Police were deployed outside the mall as a precautionary measure.

Punjab Cong chief says facts twisted in film

Punjab Congress chief and MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Friday said: “Whenever such films are made, facts are twisted because the film won’t succeed if there is no ‘masala’. Similarly, Udta Punjab was also made. It is not right that such films are made only for entertainment. Governments and sensor boards should keep an eye on such movies as they harm the brotherhood in the country because what is shown is not true, it is just a scripted story.

In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the film’s producers, alleging that it “misrepresented” the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove objectionable scenes depicting “anti-Sikh” sentiments.

Ranaut, a BJP MP from Mandi, reacted to the calls for a ban on ‘Emergency’ in a post on X.

“This is complete harassment of art and the artist, from Punjab many cities are reporting that these people are not allowing Emergency to be screened.”

“I have utmost respect for all religions and after studying and growing up in Chandigarh, I have closely observed and followed Sikh religion. This is a complete lie and propaganda to tarnish my image and harm my film #Emergency,” she said.