Censor board wants ‘cow’, 3 other words muted from film on Amartya Sen

A documentary on Amartya Sen has been stalled by the Censor Board of Film Certification of India with its film-maker Suman Ghosh being told to mute words like ‘cow’, ‘Gujarat’ and “Hindutva’ uttered by the Nobel Laureate in the film.

The planned release of the film titled ‘The Argumentative Indian’ for this weekend in Kolkata is now uncertain with Ghosh refusing to mute four words asked by the Central Board of Film Certification(CBFC) regional office here for getting the censor certificate. The words also included ‘Hindu India’.

The move by the CBFC came in for sharp condemnation with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee voicing concern while Ghosh said he was shocked and taken aback.

Now, Dr Amartya Sen. If somebody of his stature cannot express himself freely, what hope does the common citizen have,” she said in a tweet.

Taking out certain words from the discussion between Sen and the interviewer– economist Kaushik Basu, would remove the soul of the documentary, Ghosh said.

“The CBFC’s regional office here wanted me to mute words like Gujarat, cow, Hindutva view of India and Hindu India,” Ghosh, who directed the film documenting the life of 83-year-old Sen, told media.

“I expressed my inability to do it. It is a documentary and it is on a person who has an international stature. I am shocked,” he said, adding he had planned to release the documentary this weekend.