The release of the Hindi film Phule, which is based on the life of anti-caste reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, has been postponed after the Central Board of Film Certification asked the filmmakers to remove some caste references following objections by a Brahmin group, The New Indian Express reported.

The film, starring Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa in lead roles, was initially slated to be released on April 11, which is Jyotirao Phule’s birth anniversary. However, it will now be released on April 25 instead.

The Central Board of Film Certification had asked for terms such as “Mahar”, “Mang”, “Peshvai”, and “Manu’s system of caste” to be removed, saying that the terms were “sensitive”, The New Indian Express reported.

This came after an organisation called the Brahmin Federation alleged that the film promoted casteism and portrayed Brahmins in a bad light. The president of the Federation, Anand Dave, claimed that the film ignored the contributions of Brahmins who supported Jyotirao Phule’s reforms.

“The story is one-sided,” Dave said, according to The New Indian Express. “We are not against showing the truth, but it should be inclusive. The film could stoke caste-based tensions.”

The director of the film, Ananth Mahadevan on Wednesday said the cuts in the film were “very innocuous and not really something that would create any problem in society,” The Telegraph reported.

He added that the film was made after extensive research and maintained that while he exercised cinematic liberty, not historical facts were altered, The New Indian Express reported.

Reacting to the controversy Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad said: “Whatever is being shown in the movie Mahatma Jyotirao Phule is a historical truth, the truth cannot be changed by denying it. Among the social reformers who have become in this country, the names of Mahatma Phule and Savitrimai Phule are at the forefront. What is true has to be shown.”

In a subsequent social media post Awhad added that “denying the truth of the four castes, rituals and Brahmanism in Indian history is foolishness”.