Protesting the new Indian film” Gunday” on Sunday the government of Bangladesh officially expressed disappointment to India about the distortion of historical facts regarding the 1971 Liberation War in the film and requested the authorities to stop its screening.Bangladesh government also expressed its deep sense of upset about clearing of the film by the Central Board of Film Certification, Government of India.
In a statement, the foreign ministry of Bangladesh requested to the Indian authorities to stop the screening of “Gunday” in its present form with immediate effect.
“The matter has already been taken up officially with the Indian authorities and strong protest has been conveyed to the Indian side,” confirmed Shamim Ahsan, the Director General of the Publicity Wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.
The development came as Bangladeshi people reacted to the film directed by Ali Abbas Zafar after it was noticed that it “misrepresented” the birth of the country as a result of an India-Pakistan war, and undermined the armed resistance by Bangladeshi freedom fighters.
The film “Gunday”, released on February 14, mentions in an opening narration that “Bangladesh is born as Pakistan surrenders on December 16 at the end of the India-Pakistan war”.
According to viewers, the film apparently indicated that Bangladeshis were involved in crimes like arms smuggling while there were insinuations that they preferred identifying themselves as Indians.
The issue was in focus on social networks with Bangladeshis, mostly youths, expressing their annoyance and condemnation for the film`s contents. People also organized an online campaign and sent petitions to the film`s producer.
According to protesters, the film does not address the eight months of fighting by freedom fighters with Indian support against Pakistani troops during the Liberation War, when some three million people were killed.
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