‘Returning the award is an insult’

Following a Pakistani director announcing the return of his award, Delhi International Film Festival might ban all Pakistani films this year

The latest twist in the intolerance debate seems to have come from across the border, with Pakistani director Khalid Hasan Khan recently announcing that he is returning the award given to him by the Delhi International Film Festival (DIFF). Khalid received this award last year for his psycho-thriller feature film, Hotal. Talking about the reason for returning it, in a TV interview the director stated, “An award may be won tomorrow but we don’t have the luxury to lose the freedom of expression today.”

Ram Kishore Parcha, founder and president of DIFF, is fuming at Khalid’s move and terms it an ‘insult’, saying, “To whom has he returned the award Neither the Indian Embassy in Pakistan nor I have received any intimation about the award being officially returned. We got to know about it through social media. I do not know what he is trying to achieve by returning the award. This is very insulting. Whatever the situation may be in our country, we will deal with it. Who is he to question us We have awarded him to appreciate his work, and returning that award is an insult. It means that we have taken the wrong decision by awarding him in the first place.”

This year, DIFF has sent invites to 12 people from the Pakistani film fraternity for the festival, but the award issue has created an obvious ripple effect. DIFF is reportedly even contemplating banning the screening of all Pakistani films from this year’s edition of the festival.

Moreover, though the festival is set to start next week, the visas for the Pakistani filmmakers and artists have not yet been issued. “Seven movies from Pakistan were to be shown in our overseas sections, and now we are not even sure if we will screen any of those films. Humayun Gilani and other Pakistani film and documentary makers along with artists were supposed to come for the festival. The other Pakistani artists might have to pay the price for one filmmaker’s actions,” Parcha says and adds, “Every year, I inform the Indian embassy in Pakistan about the list of artists invited for the festival. But this year, I have been asked to send the list to the Ministry of External Affairs first. We will decide only after hearing from the ministry whether we want to go ahead and screen movies from this country or not.”

Eminent filmmaker Aparna Sen shares her views on the same and says, “Returning an award is one way of protesting and I think everyone has the right to question. However, I am surprised by the reaction of the Pakistani director. On one hand, since we live in a democracy, everyone has the right to voice his/her concerns, but on the other hand, Pakistan has a great amount of intolerance within its own borders. So, I do not understand the need for a Pakistani director to voice concerns about India and not about his own country.”

Talking about banning Pakistani films from the festival, she says, “I don’t think it’s the right way to go forward. If there are good Pakistani films made, then we must screen them in our country. We could keep our political differences away from films and other creative fields.”

Emphasising that we must address the larger issue instead of focusing on Khalid Hasan, director Abhinay Deo states, “I think Khalid’s move is for the fraternity and we should keep the country and religious aspect out of this issue. The actual problem is much bigger than what is being addressed. One must understand that the times when expectations are not met, are the times when people start getting agitated. Since we live in a democracy, a peaceful protest is our right. In the present day scenario, many eminent creative people from filmmakers to writers have been coming forward to speak about this issue, and by returning their awards they are voicing a peaceful protest against the government. The government needs to see if the decisions it is taking are marring anyone’s rights. If they are not, then a discussion must be had with the group protesting against them.”

Talking about the sudden rise in the number of bans in the country, Abhinay says, “If banning was the solution, I believe we would have got independence long before 1947. A true ban is what Gandhiji did in 1942 — renouncing British goods entirely, for a cause. What is currently happening with the meat ban and other bans has just turned into a joke. I am sure we are not going to ban works by eminent writers like Gulzar sahab who has also returned his award to show his protest, nor are we going to question Tagore for speaking up against the British by returning his Knighthood. We live in a democratic world where we expect answers from the government regarding our concerns. Banning will not bring any solutions to the table.”