Hyderabad: Filmmaker Lalit Vachani’s documentary on imprisoned activist Umar Khalid, titled ‘Prisoner No. 626710 is Present’ was screened by a group of students at National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law in Hyderabad, the law school officials said on Thursday.
The 60-minute documentary, which is not certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the statutory film-certification body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, was screened on the campus on Wednesday evening without permission from the NALSAR administration.
As the screening of the controversial documentary was cancelled recently at National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, and International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-Hyderabad), the group at NALSAR organised the screening without approaching the authorities for permission.
About 30 students attended the screening.
According to the organisers, rains deterred a big gathering.
Some of the students who attended the screening were seen holding umbrellas.
According to the organisers, the screening was a space for solidarity and conversation.
“The film’s questions are about rights, accountability, and the human cost of prolonged incarceration, while solemnly standing in support of those affected by these failures of the justice system, including the Supreme Court,” they said.
The event was organised in solidarity with Umar Khalid and marks six years since his imprisonment without trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots.
The screening was part of series of solidarity screenings and gatherings planned at different locations across the country.
Political Prisoners’ Day, observed in India on September 13, also coincided with the date of Umar Khalid’s arrest in 2020.
Umar Khalid, a former student leader at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was arrested in connection with the Delhi riots case and has remained in custody since September 2020.
He has been charged under the UAPA and other provisions of law, but the trial in the case is yet to begin.
The documentary was scheduled to be screened at NLSIU, Bengaluru, by the Law and Society Committee (LawSoc), a student organisation at the university.
However, LawSoc cancelled the screening following an objection by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The RSS-backed student organisation sent a complaint through email to the NLSIU administration, urging the university authorities to stop the event.
The screening of ‘Prisoner No. 626710 is Present’ was also planned at IIIT-Hyderabad under a platform called ‘No Tyrants, No Silence (NTNS)’.
The IIIT-Hyderabad administration had issued “disciplinary warnings” to eight students associated with the platform that sought to initiate conversations on caste, merit and politics.
The CBFC also said on September 17 that public screening of a documentary that had not been certified by it would violate the Cinematograph Act unless a specific exemption had been obtained.
(IANS)
