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A screenshot of Caste on the Menu Card (Video below) |
October 30, 2015, NewsCrunch
The Films Division of India has refused permission to screen Caste on the Menu Card at Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival.
The documentary, made by Masters students of Media and Cultural Studies at TISS, deals with beef-eating practices in Mumbai.
Media reports quoted government officials saying it was too "risky" to screen the documentary in the charged atmosphere prevailing in the country.
The synopsis of Caste on The Menu Card shows how caste differences impinge upon the food choices of people and how the weaker groups find it difficult to assert their preferences. Beef is a metaphor here to analyse the issues related to livelihood, social inclusion and human rights.
Mumbai Mirror quoted a Ministry of Information and Broadcasting saying as the organisers had made the application very late, there was lack of information about a film dealing with a topic like this.
The organisers refuted the claim and said all 35 documentaries had been sent for clearance to the Films Division earlier this month.
Caste on the Menu Card was inspired by a controversy that broke out at TISS in August 2014, when a group of Dalit students, demanded beef to be served on canteen, to protest brahminical domination over them.
A slickly edited trailer of the documentary shows a wide spectrum of opinions on eating beef. One of the interviewees says it is important to put the issue in public domain for discussion. That is what the Films Division of India does not seem to want.