Christian states oppose <i>Da Vinci</i> releaase

Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Kohima (UNI): The Nagaland Cabinet has decided to prohibit sale and distribution of Dan Brown's novel Da Vinci Code throughout the state. The Cabinet, which met here yesterday, also prohibited the screening of the movie based on the book and produced by Ron Howard, and issued direction to all cinema hall owners, video parlours, cable operators as they all fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Union government. The Cabinet has decided to appeal to the Union government to ban the film in the country and Nagaland through a limited ban order. The Cabinet, which was chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, took note of the 'offensive' and 'sacrilegious' expressions and narrations in the novel, a release issued by V Sakhrie, Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, said here today.

In Itanagar, The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF) has taken strong exception to the decision of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to release the controversial film 'Da Vinci Code' in India and urged the authorities concerned to review its decision. In a letter to the CBFC, the ACF said though the film was cleared by the Censor Board after getting green signal from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Christian community of the state would not accept the film as it is a mixed bag of fantasy with historical facts. Such a film, based on any religion, should not be encouraged bacause it could hurt the sentiments of people, the forum observed.

Meanwhile, the Youth Ministerial Organisation Assemblies of God (YMOAG) has opposed the decision taken by the CBFC and urged to stop the release of the film in India. The organisation termed the film as a religious thriller and said that it was against the Holy Bible.

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