Thursday,
May
25,
2006
Guwahati
(UNI):
The
Christian
dominated
North
East
India
waits
with
bated
breath
for
release
of
the
Da
Vinci
Code
despite
the
fact
Nagaland
has
banned
the
film.
Four
of
the
seven
states
in
the
region
have
Christian
majority,
but
still
North
east
is
more
or
less
open
to
Da
Vinci,
proving
yet
again
that
religious
intolerance
has
no
place
here.
Nagaland
has
banned
it
while
Meghalaya
is
confused,
Mizoram
is
open
and
Manipur
is
keeping
a
wait
and
watch
policy.
Asom
has
negligible
percentage
of
Christian
population,
while
minority
Christian
of
Arunachal
Pradesh
are
not
so
happy.
But,
broadly
North
East
is
open
to
the
film
and
pirated
market
of
Nagaland
have
gone
overdrive
to
procure
and
copy
the
Da
Vinci
Code
where
Christ
has
been
shown
as
a
married
man
and
a
secret
society
of
Europe
was
protecting
the
blood
linage
of
the
Christ
till
the
20th
century.
However
in
Nagaland,
where
Church
is
the
supreme
authority,
the
Cabinet
prohibited
sale
and
distribution
of
Dan
Brown's
novel
Da
Vinci
Code
throughout
the
state.
The
Cabinet,
which
met
here
on
Monday,
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
fall
under
the
exclusive
jurisdiction
of
the
Union
government.
Surprisingly
Mizoram
is
cool
towards
Da
Vinci
Code.
No
other
state
in
the
country
is
more
influenced
by
a
religion
other
than
Mizoram
where
the
Church
decides
everything,
from
politics
to
music.
However,
the
Mizos
are
not
so
bothered
about
the
controversy.
The
Christian
scholar
Rev
Chuauthuama
has
gone
on
record
saying
the
book
or
film
should
not
have
much
effect
on
the
Mizo
people
even
if
other
Christians
around
the
world
have
been
adversely
affected
by
it.
Superintendent
of
the
United
Pentecostal
Church
(NE),
Rev
R
Lalrinsanga
said,
''The
book
and
film
has
been
derogatory
towards
the
Christians.''
Some
clerics
have,
however,
expressed
distaste
for
Da
Vinci
Code
saying
it
could
alter
and
dilute
Christian
beliefs
if
propagated.
Rev
C
Ngurhnema
of
the
Mizoram
Baptist
Church
said,
''Although
I
have
not
read
the
book,
I
know
what
it
is
all
about.
I
believe
the
book
to
be
a
challenge
to
the
Christian
beliefs.''
However,
the
Christians
of
Arunachal
Pradesh
is
not
so
happy.
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
in
India
and
urged
the
authorities
concerned
to
review
its
decision.
Although
the
film
is
scheduled
to
release
next
Friday,
officially
it
will
take
another
three
weeks
to
reach
this
far,
but
till
then
pirated
version
of
the
CD
would
flood
the
North
East
market
as
the
advance
copy
from
China
have
reached
the
border
town
of
Tamu
near
Moreh
in
Manipur.
The
Nagaland
Baptist
Church
Council
(NBCC)
has
appreciated
the
decision
of
the
Nagaland
Cabinet
to
ban
the
novel
Da
Vinci
Code
and
issuance
of
an
'advisory' not
to
distribute
and
screen
the
film.
In
a
statement
here
today
NBCC
Secretary
Rev
L.
Kari
Longchar
pointed
out
to
the
Union
government
if
a
cartoon
of
'Muhammad'
could
offend
the
Muslims,
a
distorted
story
or
the
screening
of
the
film
would
cause
much
greater
damage
to
the
sentiments
of
the
Christians.
The
NBCC
said
the
Christians
in
the
state
would
get
hurt
by
the
film.