Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Censors 'seek cuts to Amartya Sen documentary'

INDIAN censors have refused to certify a documentary film featuring Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen unless words like "cow" and "Hindu India" are beeped out, the director said yesterday (July 12), in the latest dispute involving the film board.

Suman Ghosh, a national award-winning director, said he screened his film The Argumentative Indian - adapted from Sen's book of the same title - for censors in Kolkata on Tuesday (July 11).


After three hours of viewing, officials verbally asked him to delete the terms "cow" - an animal considered sacred for Hindus - "Hindu India" and "Gujarat".

"In a piece of cinema, I think it's bizarre to just beep something suddenly," Ghosh told the NDTV news network, saying he was "quite shocked" by the censors' objection.

"But I will not make any change at all," he said.

The documentary had been set for release this weekend.

Filmed over the course of more than 15 years, Ghosh's new work mainly features Sen, a vocal critic of Modi, and Kaushik Basu, who was chief economic adviser to India's last Congress-led government, in a conversation that ranges from economics and philosophy to the global rise of nationalism.

It mentions communal riots in Gujarat where at least 1,000 people, were killed in 2002 when prime minister Narendra Modi was chief minister there.

Ghosh said he was yet to receive an official notice from the Mumbai-based Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

The CBFC did not immediately respond to several calls and text messages seeking comment.

Sen said he was "absolutely astonished that there was anything controversial about it".

"The censor board has now made it an interesting film and I am grateful for that," he told NDTV.

(AFP)

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less