The makers of a Bollywood film featuring scenes Indian Christians claimed were ‘blasphemous’ and ‘offensive’ have voluntarily agreed to remove them for its cinema release.
The move follows protests and outrage from Christian leaders last week, coming a week after violent protests in the Islamic world in response to an American film which insulted the prophet Mohammed.
Bishop of Vasai, Monsignor Felix Machado, the President of India’s Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism urged Christians to respond to the film with peaceful words and not violent protest when he spoke to the newsagency Fides, last Thursday.
“We express with firm and unequivocal words, the disappointment of the Indian Church for this film considered offensive towards the Christian faith, but with peaceful words,” Bishop of Vasai, Mgr Felix Machado, the President for the Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism told Fides.
“We do not want Catholics to follow the path of violent protests; one should always follow the path of the Gospel, of gentleness and dialogue.”
The film Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal (“Laugh, be happy”) was described by Fr Domic D’Abrio, spokesman for the Catholic Episcopal Conference of India, as “blasphemous, an offence against Christian faith and the faithful’s feelings.”
According to Fr D’Abrio, the comedy/satire contained scenes in which priests were ridiculed and symbols of faith were insulted:
A priest is portrayed as a lottery manic; in another scene, a priest was adorned with a garland of banknotes; elsewhere, the Rosary was “offended”; in another passage, the priest made improper use of the holy water.
“We have seen the consequences of the blasphemous film The Innocence of Muslims. Muslims in India are also very struck and feel anger. Now Christians are deeply offended. Such irresponsible acts should not happen. Freedom requires respect for all,” Fr D’Abrio said.
Bishop Machado called for the sacred symbols and religious identity of all religious communities to be respected:
“Sometimes minority groups are those who mock religious communities, or carry out actions lightly. I do not think there is hatred towards the Christian faith. But freedom of expression must always be combined with respect for human life, which is sacred. In India, we Christians are a small minority, and sometimes this penalises us. Episodes like this are not good for humanity and religious harmony in the world.”
Some Catholic organisations, such as the Catholic Secular Forum, held a protest in Bombay on September 26, marching from the Church of St Peter to the regional Parliament.
A delegation of Catholic groups and Fr Rueben Tellis, a representative of the Archdiocese of Bombay, met and submitted a memorandum to Leela Samson, President of the “Central Board of Film Certification”, demanding the removal of the blasphemous scenes and also informed the Federal Minister for Information and Telecommunications, Ambika Soni.
“With this film, Bollywood has hit rock bottom,” the CSF’s Joseph Dias told Fides, remembering the other film, Kya Superkool Hum Hai (“We are super cool”), which in the past had offended Christians.
The protesting groups called for a permanent representative of the Christian community in the Audit Committee to “prevent those relapsing forms of cinematic liberty”.
In recent times, the Christian community in India was shocked by the desecration of the church of Santa Maria de Lourdes, in Tamil Nadu (southern India), by unidentified groups.
The faithful convened a day of collective fasting on September 19, which was attended by an estimated assembly of 5,000 people, including bishops and Christian leaders, calling on the government to protect minorities and religious symbols. – FIDES