JU screens 'Ram ke Naam' after row in Presidency

Jadavpur University permitted the screening of a 1992 national award-winning documentary that is based on the Babri Masjid demolition, but it was not allowed to be screened on the Presidency University (PU).

Kolkata:Jadavpur University (JU) on Monday allowed the screening of ''Ram ke Naam'', a 1992 documentary based on the Babri Masjid demolition, but it was not allowed to be screened on the Presidency University (PU) campus auditorium after the authorities allegedly denied permission.

The students of the film studies department took the initiative of screening the film at Jadavpur University.

"If a department takes an initiative, there is no point in denying or giving any permission," JU Registrar Sneha Manju Basu said.

A group of PU students had also planned to screen the national award-winning documentary directed by filmmaker Anand Patwardhan but were denied permission. However, officials at JU didn't put any restriction on its screening.

"Some students had planned to screen the documentary on Monday. The auditorium was sanctioned to us, but as per the norm, we should have been given a receipt. We didn't get that and on Saturday we were told that the hall was not meant for such screenings," said Sayan Chakraborty, a student of PU''s economics department.

However, PU officials said that the students were stopped from screening the documentary as they didn't have the proper permission.

Chakraborty said that the auditorium has been used for screening various films in the past. The students will discuss the matter with the university administration on Tuesday, he said.

"We will try to get permission. If denied, we will go for open screening. If we don't use university infrastructure, no one will be able to stop us," he added.

''Ram ke Naam'' explores the campaign waged by Vishva Hindu Parishad to build a Ram temple at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and the communal violence it triggered.