Birmingham: Khalistani supporters protested against Bollywood actor and BJP MP from Mandi, Himachal, Kangana Ranaut’s film Emergency in Birmingham, England. The film was being shown at the Star City View cinema hall, when Khalistani supporters entered there and started raising slogans against India. During this, they also raised slogans of Khalistan Zindabad.
Khalistani supporters tried to stop the screening of the film. This created a tense atmosphere in the cinema hall. After which the people present there opposed them and they had to leave from there.
On the other hand, this film is also being opposed in Punjab. On January 17, Sikh organizations demonstrated outside the cinema halls. This film was to be shown at 70 to 80 theaters of PVR Group, after the protest, the film was not screened at these theaters.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has accused the film of tarnishing the image of Sikhs and misrepresenting history.
SGPC wrote a letter to CM to ban this film in Punjab
About 4 days ago, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami wrote a letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to ban the film. He wrote in the letter that ‘Emergency’ should be banned in Punjab. The way Sikhs and their struggle during the 1975 Emergency has been shown in the film does not match history and is creating a wrong image of Sikhs.
Dhami alleges, the sacrifice and contribution of Sikhs was ignored in the film. They were shown negatively. Respecting the sentiments of the Sikhs, the release of the film should be stopped in Punjab. He had said that if this film is released, there will be resentment and anger in the Sikh community.
SGPC objected to these scenes of the film
The film shows the events of the Emergency imposed during 1975-77 when Indira Gandhi was the PM. In particular, it shows the atrocities against Sikhs, the army action on the Golden Temple and other incidents. SGPC claims that these incidents have been presented in a wrong way in the film.
Kangana has said – Harassment of art and artist
After the film was opposed in Punjab, Kangana posted on X (former Twitter). She wrote – ‘This is completely harassment of art and artist. I respect all religions. After studying and growing up in Chandigarh, I have closely observed and followed Sikhism. This is outright lie and propaganda to tarnish my image and harm my film Emergency.’