CBFC flags Umar Khalid documentary screening at IIIT-Hyderabad

The documentary, "Prisoner No. 626710 is Present", directed by filmmaker Lalit Vachani, was proposed to be screened by a group of students at the institute's KRB Auditorium at 8 pm on Friday, Septeber 18.

New Delhi: The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Thursday, September 17, flagged the proposed screening of a documentary on jailed activist Umar Khalid at IIIT-Hyderabad, saying public exhibition of an uncertified film would violate the Cinematograph Act unless a specific exemption has been obtained.

The documentary, “Prisoner No. 626710 is Present”, directed by filmmaker Lalit Vachani, was proposed to be screened by a group of students at the institute’s KRB Auditorium at 8 pm on Friday, Septeber 18.

Sources said the students have now decided to cancel the screening.

“Public screening of a documentary film that has not yet been certified by the CBFC is a violation of the Cinematograph Act unless a specific exemption has been sought under the Act,” the CBFC posted on X.

Tagging IIIT-Hyderabad, it said the institute’s authorities “may take note for necessary action”.

The CBFC functions under the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry. An email query to IIIT-Hyderabad on the issue elicited no response.

The development comes days after a proposed screening of the same documentary at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru was postponed following opposition from the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

The NLSIU screening, organised by its student-run Law and Society Committee, was scheduled for September 14 to mark Political Prisoners’ Day and six years of Khalid’s incarceration.

The ABVP had demanded that the screening be cancelled, alleging that allowing it would amount to using the campus for political propaganda.

The student committee subsequently postponed the programme citing “logistical and security considerations”, while maintaining that it was not backing out because of pressure and that the screening would be held later in the trimester.

“Prisoner No. 626710 is Present” centres on Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University research scholar who was arrested in September 2020 in connection with the alleged larger conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots.

Khalid has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other provisions in the case and has remained in custody since his arrest. The invitation for the proposed IIIT-Hyderabad screening said it was planned on the occasion of “Political Prisoners’ Day”.

It also referred to the anniversary of the death of revolutionary Jatindra Nath Das, a comrade of Bhagat Singh who died after a prolonged hunger strike in Lahore jail in 1929.