Last fortnight, a screening of Anand Patwardhan’s acclaimed and important documentary Ram Ke Naam (In the Name of God) scheduled to be held as part of a college festival in Pune was abruptly called off. The 75-minute film traces the campaign by Hindutva groups, especially the Vishva Hindu Parishad, to demolish the sixteenth-century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
Patwardhan claims that the students at ILS Law College who had invited him to hold the screening first cited threats they had received as the reason for the cancellation, but the organisers later denied this.
In response, the filmmaker decided last week to put up Ram Ke Naam on YouTube, so that it could be viewed without restriction. "I realised that some of my films in particular are facing hostility on the ground from right-wing elements as witnessed in the recent incident at the ILS Law College in Pune," the filmmaker said.
Ram Ke Naam was made in 1991, a year before the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. Its continued relevance is obvious from the fact that Hindutva groups continue to monitor screenings of the film and to attempt to disrupt them.
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Patwardhan claims that the students at ILS Law College who had invited him to hold the screening first cited threats they had received as the reason for the cancellation, but the organisers later denied this.
In response, the filmmaker decided last week to put up Ram Ke Naam on YouTube, so that it could be viewed without restriction. "I realised that some of my films in particular are facing hostility on the ground from right-wing elements as witnessed in the recent incident at the ILS Law College in Pune," the filmmaker said.
Ram Ke Naam was made in 1991, a year before the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. Its continued relevance is obvious from the fact that Hindutva groups continue to monitor screenings of the film and to attempt to disrupt them.