'Aarakshan' stirs debate in Maharashtra Cabinet

The issue of imposing a ban on Amitabh Bachchan starrer Aarakshan figured in today's meeting of the Maharashtra Cabinet.

According to sources, Women and Child Development Minister Varsha Gaikwad and EGS minister Nitin Raut demanded a ban on the controversial movie releasing tomorrow.

The two ministers were learnt to have said that the content of the Prakash Jha directed film based on reservations in educational institutions would create division in the society.

Reservation is the constitutional right of the backward classes, they maintained, adding that raking up the sensitive issue could lead to social tensions, the sources said.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is understood to have heard them and then sought the opinion of Social Justice Minister Shivajirao Moghe and PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

Bhujbal, a prominent OBC leader, said he was among the first to oppose the movie but has withdrawn his opposition after watching the film, the sources said.

Moghe said the film was pro-reservation and the filmmaker had deleted two scenes which were found objectionable, they added.

To this, Raut is learnt to have said that a film taking a pro or anti reservation stand was not in the interest of the society. The issue is now settled and there is no need to rake it up again, he felt.

According to sources, Chavan felt that since the courts and the Censor Board have cleared the film, there was little the state government could do other than ensuring there were no law and order problems after its release.