Author Hardeep Singh

CHANDIGARH Upcoming movie (‘Emergency’) of infamous Hindutva actress Kangana Ranaut who has recently been elected as BJP MP from Hindu-populated Mandi constituency of Himachal Pradesh, has depicted Sikhs in poor light and tried to malign image of the community martyrs by presenting them ‘villain’. The Sikh community is enraged over this movie and seeking ban on it. 

Kangana has directed the film and also plays the role of the former PM Indira Gandhi. The film was initially to be released in October–November 2023, but was re-scheduled for 14 June, 2024, only to be postponed due to the Lok Sabha elections. It is scheduled for release on September 6 and its trailer was released on August 14.

The trailer stirred the row. It shows an actor playing the role of great Sikh martyr Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Such depiction also violates basic Sikh principles as per which no human being can play role of any Sikh martyr. Sant Bhindranwale who was awarded title of ‘Great Sikh of 20^th Century’ by Akal Takht Sahib, led the Sikh activists while defending the highest Sikh temporal seat during India army attack in June 1984. 

As per trailer, the movie shows Sikhs as “terrorists”. This has hurt sentiments of the Sikhs. 

Distortion and depiction of Sant Bhindranwale’s character cannot be tolerated: Akal Takht 

In a statement issued here, Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh said, “Sikhs can never tolerate imitation of their martyrs in films. In Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming film ‘Emergency’, the character of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale has been distorted”.

“On one hand, Indian Censor Board is not giving permission to release of the movie made on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who exposed the inhuman phenomenon of killing thousands of Sikh youths in fake police encounters and disposing of their dead bodies by calling them unidentified dead bodies in 90s, even after making more than 80 cuts in the film, while on the other, release of the movie which presents false facts about the Sikh community by ignoring the context of the frenzied attack on Sri Darbar Sahib in June 1984 faced no hassle”.

He said, “This has hurt sentiments of the Sikhs. We will never tolerate the act of distorting image of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale”. 

The jathedar said, “If the government does not immediately remove the objectionable scenes in the film ‘Emergency’ and which misrepresent the image and history of Sikhs, then the government will be directly responsible for any consequences that may arise”.

It’s character assassination of Sant Bhindranwale: SGPC chief

The SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said, “This film has been made by actress Kangana Ranaut, who remains in controversy due to her anti-Sikh and anti-Punjab expressions, with the intention of deliberately character assassinating Sikhs, which the Sikh community cannot tolerate”.

“Creating an anti-Sikh narrative about the great martyrs of June 1984, this is a despicable act of disrespecting the community. The community can never forget the anti-Sikh brutality of June 1984 and Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale has been declared a Qaumi Shaheed (community’s martyr) by Akal Takht, while Kangana Ranaut’s film is trying to malign his character”, said Dhami.

He said that Kangana Ranaut has often deliberately made expressions that provoke the sentiments of Sikhs, but instead of taking action against her, the government is “protecting” her. He said that the government should file a case against Kangana Ranaut for inciting religious sentiments of Sikhs for her act through the film Emergency.

Expressing strong objection, Dhami said that it is clear from the released excerpts of the Emergency film that it has deliberately misrepresented the character of Sikhs as separatists, which is part of a deep conspiracy.

The SGPC president said that there have been many such cases related to films in the past when Sikh sentiments have been hurt due to misrepresentation of Sikh characters and religious concerns of Sikhs.

He demanded an immediate ban on the Emergency film of Kangana Ranaut from Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnav, and said that it should be ensured from now on that no film with anti-Sikh sentiments is released.

Dhami called for the inclusion of Sikh members in the Central Board of Film Certification, as biased decisions are being taken due to the absence of a Sikh member. He said the SGPC has earlier passed resolutions in its general meeting several times and demanded that a representative of Sikhs must be included in the Central Board of Film Certification, but it is sad that the government is not implementing the same. The SGPC President said that it is very important to ban this film because it is natural that the release of this film will cause a lot of anger and resentment in the Sikh community.

Deep rooted conspiracy: Faridkot MP Khalsa

Meanwhile, Faridkot MP Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, whose father Beant Singh avenged 1984 Indian army attack on Sri Darbar Sahib and Akal Takht Sahib by assassinating the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has sharply reacted to the controversial movie. 

“If Sikhs are filmed as terrorists in this film, then it is a deep conspiracy. This film is a psychological attack to create hatred towards Sikhs among other communities. The government should take prior notice and ban this movie,” he said, in a statement. 

He added, “There has been hate crime against Sikhs and this film will only spread hatred towards the community. Objectionable films should be banned to maintain communal harmony and ensure law and order”.

On the other hand, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday said, “The film cause unrest in society”.

While interacting with the media during her visit to Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar, she said all the scenes which are objectionable should be removed immediately.

 “The central government also has a hand in this spreading this false propaganda”, she said.

She said, “Ms Ranaut has earlier also made disparaging comments about our mothers who were participating in the Kisan Andolan. Such comments only cause hatred in society and should be avoided”.

She said no attempt should be made to distort history or create a narrative which depicts the Sikh community in poor light.

The SAD leader also asserted that the Sikh community was facing discrimination be it members of the community fighting for their just rights against the three agriculture laws being referred to as terrorists or imposition of the dreaded National Security Act (NSA) against Sikh youth.

Kangana has history of spreading hatred against Sikhs, other minorities

In 2020, Ranaut had called an elderly Sikh woman farmer from Punjab who was taking part in the farmers protests at borders of Delhi, Bilkis Bano, an elderly woman who had become one of the faces of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Law (CAA) protests earlier in Shaheen Bagh. She had also said the woman was “available for ₹ 100”, suggesting she could be hired for protests. This had enraged farmers in general and Sikhs in particular and triggered a much-talked-about exchange on X between her and singer-actor Diljeet Singh Dosanjh. 

Then, in February 2021, reacting to support for the protests by international pop sensation Rihanna, Ranaut had called the agitators “terrorists” and said they were trying to divide India. 

Replying to a post on X by Rihanna, Ranaut had called the singer a “fool” and said, “No one is talking about it because they are not farmers they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like USA… Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies.”

Recently, she was slapped by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)  lady personnel at the Chandigarh airport over her comments on the farmer protests of 2020-21.