Civil Rights Groups are peeved at the Jaipur district administration which refused them permission to screen a documentary film exposing the politics of fake encounters in Gujarat. They have expressed concern over what they perceive as a “growing nexus” among the police, politicians and a section of the media. The office of the Jaipur Collector and District Magistrate has instructed the People’s Union for Civil Liberties through a written reply to its letter that the film “Encounter on Saffron Agenda” should not be screened without the Collector’s permission. The District Magistrate has also asked PUCL to submit the Film Censor Board Certificate for the film.
According to a report, the Delhi based film-maker, Shubradeep Chakravorty, was hounded out of Jaipur and stopped from showing the film at the Pink City Press Club. Later he was forced to leave the city after a brief detention by the police. The documentary is based on the investigation of four encounters in Gujarat, including the infamous Sohrabuddin Sheikh episode, and seeks to find out the truth behind the police stories and the politics of killing. PUCL, General Secretary, Kavita Srivastava applied for the Collector’s permission. She said that the insistence on Censor Certificate was a “ploy to serve the political agenda” of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party that wanted to shroud the truth from the public eye.