CBFC intervention stops screening of documentary on Umar Khalid at IIIT-H

A documentary by filmmaker Lalit Vachani on jailed activist Umar Khalid, which was all set to be screened at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H), has faced objection from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which termed the proposed screening a violation of the law and called upon the institute’s authorities to take necessary action.

The documentary, Prisoner No. 626710 is Present, was scheduled to be screened at the KRB Auditorium on the IIIT-H campus at 8 pm on Thursday, September 18; however, it was duly flagged by the CBFC, a statutory film-certification body under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, as a violation of the Act, in a post on X, and tagged the institution, asking it to take action on it.

“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 board said, while asking IIIT-H authorities to take note of the matter and act accordingly.

The CBFC direction followed a postponement of the proposed screening on September 14 at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) due to protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Hindu right-wing organisation RSS, and other associated activists.

Although the film was not screened at NLSIU, students organised a reading session that evening, during which Umar Khalid’s recent letters to his family, friends and others were read, followed by a discussion on the Preamble to the Indian Constitution.

Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and several other predominantly Muslim anti-CAA activists were arrested in 2020 in connection with the violence in north-east Delhi, which erupted amid protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The violence claimed 53 lives and left more than 700 people injured, with Muslims comprising the majority of those killed.

The police case, registered as FIR 59 of 2020, invokes provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Critics, however, have described the prolonged incarceration of Khalid and other accused activists as the criminalisation of dissent, while raising concerns over extended pre-trial detention and its implications for the constitutional guarantees of personal liberty and a speedy trial under Article 21.