The crisis over the shooting of the Hindi film ‘Gadar’ in the world-famous Asifi Imambara in Lucknow has deepened with Shia Muslim leaders threatening to immolate themselves if permission for shooting was not withdrawn.
The Shias leaders, claiming the support of 40-odd social and religious organisations, said on Thursday that the community was agitated over the attitude of the Lucknow district administration, and warned of ‘serious consequences’ if the Muslim sentiments against shooting at the Imambara were not respected.
Shikoh Azad, spokesman of the royal family of Avadh and the All India Shia Conference, said that Muslims would take to the streets in protest against the permission. “Tomorrow’s Friday ‘Namaz’ at Asifi Mosque is thus going to be crucial,” he added.
Shabbir Ahmad, president of Al-Gadeer, a Muslim social organisation, announced that he would immolate himself in protest against the ‘dubious role’ of the state government on the issue.
Azad and other Shia Muslim leaders went a step further, saying that it would trigger a chain-reaction by way of self-immolations if the state government did not awaken to the situation.
The shooting turned controversial when the Muslim community said a sacred place like the Imambara could not be used as a setting for any commercial film.
Azad, while demanding a high-level inquiry into the matter, alleged that the interior decor of the religious place was recently changed to suit the shooting purposes. “The Shias are very perturbed over it and it is up to the state government to pacify the agitated who might resort to dharna and demonstration,” he added.
He also disputed the clarification from the administration that the District Magistrate had given the permission in his capacity as the ex-officio chairman of Hussainabad and Shahnazaf Allied Trusts, controlling the affairs of the Imambara. “The District Magistrate should have taken into account the feelings of about three lakh Shias of the state capital before permitting it,” he observed.
The Muslim leaders claimed that the entire episode had been planned by the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to disturb the tranquility of Lucknow. “The only sane step on the part of the administration now would be to stop the proposed shooting (from March 13 to 17) and ask the film unit to shoot elsewhere,” they suggested.
Refusing to accept that the protest against the shooting had political undertones, they alleged, “The protests against the shooting of ‘Water” in Varanasi were government-sponsored but here in Lucknow they are related to the religious sentiments.”
The Shia conference leaders said they had sent a memorandum to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and were awaiting action on it. “In case of failure to get justice from the state government, we would move the courts. We are planning for a public interest petition to be filed anytime,” they said.
On the other hand, Nitin Keni, producer of the film Gadar, said that the onus of providing security to the film unit lay on the state government as it had invited film producers to shoot in the state. He made it clear that he would not invite any risk to his artistes and the members of film unit for the sake of shooting.
Keni said that if he was not allowed to shoot in the Imambara, he would pack up and shoot elsewhere as there was no dearth of locations in the country. He, however, denied that he had received any official word about the whole matter.
Meanwhile, the district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the Namaz on Friday. A police spokesman said that law and order would be maintained in view of the threats from the Muslim community to stage dharna and court arrest tomorrow.