postponed the release of the second movie– but a cardinal cautioned Saturday, May 13, it was just a first step.
On Friday, May 12, the KBC, distributors of ‘Tickle my funny bone’, about a "sexy nun" reportedly apologized saying they will not use posters showing censored portions of the film.
In addition the Indian Film Censor Board postponed the release of the film, which was scheduled to take place Friday, May 12, and censured parts of it, news reports said.
The General Secretary of Catholic Social Forum, Joseph Dias, and General Secretary of All Indian Christian Council and Maharashtra State Minority Commission member, Dr Abraham Mathai, had urged the Central Board of Film Certification’s regional officer Vinayak Azad in Mumbai to initiate the action.
"VULGAR SCENES"
"We are happy that the censor board has once again ordered the filmmaker to cut out all vulgar scenes and dialogues pertaining to the nun in the movie," Dias was quoted as saying in a published statement.
He said Azad had also assured the delegation that all visuals of Christian symbols – church, rosary, cross, clergy and a woman dressed as nun would not appear in the film.
"A preview of the film has been organized for the agitating leaders before its release. We will give our approval only after viewing the film to see if all insulting visuals have been cut and the film does not deride or denigrate our faith, priests and nuns," Mathai added.
"DISTORTING HISTORY"
However Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, of the Syro-Malabar Church, suggested that the ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ was still scheduled to be released this month. In distributed remarks, the cardinal described the novel on which the film version is based, as "purely an imaginative work that distorts history and sacrilegiously maligns the adorable person of Jesus Christ and His message."
The controversial film stars Tom Hanks and is based on Dan Brown’s best-selling novel which reportedly sold over 40 million copies worldwide. It explores the idea that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and had children whose descendants are alive today.
The cardinal said that "India’s secularism positively respects all religions…It is highly deplorable that a film of this kind is allowed to be screened, disregarding the religious sentiments of millions of citizens."
"ANTI-CHRISTIAN FILMS"
In an earlier statement he stressed that, "the anti-Christian films were blaspheming against the sacred person of Christ Jesus, Our Lord or in smearing the good reputation of persons consecrated in His service."
Catholic protests have been under way for days, with some groups even calling for hunger strikes. While The Da Vinci Code film raises the possibility that Jesus had a child by Mary Magdalene, that she fled to France and that Christ’s bloodline survives to this day, Tickle My Funny Bone, denigrates Catholic consecrated sisters by depicting a nun with sexual escapades.
"If the government does not take immediate steps to stop the screening of the two movies, hundreds of thousands of people will throng the cinema houses to stop showing of these films," Indian media quoted Dolphy D’Souza, president of Bombay Catholic Sabha, as saying.
CONSPIRACY ALLEGED
Lavy A. D’Costa, convener, FORCE (Forum for Opportunities, Redressal, Concerns and Empowerment), had said there appears to be a conspiracy to denigrate, degrade and deride Christianity especially through the popular medium of films.
The Catholic Social Forum in a massive signature campaign drive at various places in Mumbai had collected 50,000 protest signatures to ban the films, church groups said.
It comes amid growing concern over Hindu militants opposing the spread of Christianity in India, where churches were raided in several areas. In addition there have been a growing number of reports about attacks against individual Christians, church leaders and missionary workers, local Christians and human rights activists say. Christians comprise just over two percent of India’s predominantly Hindu population of roughly 1.1 billion.
