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ShareAfter the hue and cry raised by Catholic organisations over 'Da Vinci Code' and 'Tickle My Funny Bone', now the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) has asked the censor board to also ban the forthcoming film 'Sacred Evil'.
Gerry Coelho, the general secretary of CSF has said that the Censor Board should have included a Christian member on the board when issuing a certificate to the film.
Amidst warnings that the film could incite arson and violence, the CSF has demanded a screening of the film before it is released.
"The posters of 'Sacred Evil' showed a nun and a cross. When we see symbols, we obviously want to know in what context they are used. So a preview was asked for.
When something like this happens, I think the board should be concerned about religious sentiments," says Dolphy D'souza, Vice President, Bombay Catholic Sabha.
On a more prosaic note, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has spoken out against any sort of violence. "Our protest is a peaceful protest, not at all involving violence. We unequivocally condemn any violence," said Donald D'souza of CBCI.
But that does not mean that the organisation is going to soften it's stand on 'Da Vinci Code' and 'Tickle My Funny Bone'.
"We take strong objection to the release of these movies. The movies are based on falsehoods about Christian faith and life and will hurt the faith of individual Christians.
Such movies will spread wrong notions about a religion, any religion, and should not be screened in India or anywhere as they do not stand for the truth," said CBCI's Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes.
Meanwhile, Abhigyan Jha, the director of 'Sacred Evil' says he's worried at the manner in which people are pandering to everyone's ego.
"I don't know what the Catholic groups are worried about. My mother is Catholic; I studied the Bible. In a democratic nation, we all have a fundamental right to be creative.
My main worry is that anyone and everyone could have an issue with anything about a film and that could snowball into a major issue. Writers and creative people have become soft targets."
s_shubha@dnaindia.net
