Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has called off protests scheduled for today(Wednesday) as the federal government announced it would approach the Council of Islamic Ideology for its views over the now-controversial film, Zindagi Tamasha.
The Central Board of Film Censors also notified the filmmakers not to release the film and decided to approach the Council of Islamic Ideology to deliberate over the matter, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan tweeted.
The decision by the board comes even as the director, Sarmad Khoosat, has repeatedly insisted that “upon completion, the film was cleared by all three censor boards of Pakistan and had its world premiere at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the Sindh and Punjab governments had moved to block the film’s release in the respective provinces.
Hours after the notifications were reported, a pamphlet attributed to the TLP’s publications wing, announced the party’s decision to defer the protests in light of the government’s move to stop the film’s release. According to Tuesday’s notice by the Sindh Board of Film Censors (SBFC), the decision was taken in view of the potential for the film to create “unrest”. “If the film is released for public exhibition, it may create unrest within the religious segment of the society and may deteriorate and be detrimental to the peaceful circumstances in the country,” read the SBFC notice.
