ZERO makers want us to believe that Sikhs are dumb and cannot distinguish between a Katar and a Kirpan. In response to the complaint of Delhi MLA and DSGMC general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the Zero team has said, “Your concern is duly noted and we wish to respectfully clarify that the film does not depict a Kirpan. The filmmakers have been careful not to hurt the feelings of any community including the Sikh community.”

“The image shows a dagger popularly known as ‘Katar’ in the Indian subcontinent and is nowhere close to a ‘Kirpan’ that carries the distinguished blessing of being Khalsa.” further read the statement.

Reacting to this, the Singh Sabha Mumbai general secretary Manmohan Singh has said, “This is unacceptable. They are simply trying to bypass the issue.” The Singh Sabha has complained to the CBFC and has said that “This is unacceptable and an absolutely unnecessary affront to the Sikhs.”

In the complaint, Singh Sabha general secretary has mentioned that “Singh Sabha Mumbai and other Sikh bodies have been regularly urging the CBFC to appoint a Sikh member to its body as was the practice in the past, but unfortunately this has not happened despite repeated requests for this.  As much it is the fault of the movie makers, it is of the CBFC, which does not carry out the necessary cuts.”

The complainant has further stated that, producer-director Aanand L. Rai had antagonised the Sikhs for the movie Manmarziyan also.

Singh Sabha Mumbai has sought deletion of the objectionable scene and asked the CBFC to recall its certification till the deletion is done.

As Sikhs take umbrage to the issue, an advocate from Mumbai -Amritpal Singh Khalsa has petitioned the Bombay High Court and the matter is likely to come up soon. The petition says, “The official poster of the Zero Film is Blasphemous in nature and its release has resulted on direct attack on fundamental rights of the petitioner so too Sikh population at large.”

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The petition further says that, “The Kirpan which is most important integral part of faith in Sikh Religion has been scorned to the least limit, for every Gursikh or Amritdhari Sikh five articles viz Kirpan, Kachera, Kanga, Kada, Kesh are of utmost importance, a Gursikh or Amritdhari Sikh will even lay down his/her life in defending the Articles of faith but will never ever compromise on the dignity on the 5 Articles of faith.”

It further elaborates that, The word “Kirpan” (Gurmukhi: ਕਿਰਪਾਨ ) has two roots – the first root is: Kirpa (ਕਿਰਪਾ ) which means “Mercy, grace, compassion, kindness” and the second root is Aan (ਆਨ ) which in turn means “Honour, grace, dignity”.

Responding to the oft-repeated argument that “it is just a movie”, the petitioner seeks an answer from the court on the count, “Can an article of faith having utmost importance in a particular religious belief be gimmicked for public amusement?”

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Amritpal Singh Khalsa’s petition is against Shah Rukh Khan, producers Gauri Khan, Karuna Badwal, director Aanand L Rai, Distributors Red Chillies Entertainments, publicity channels YouTube Space Mumbai, Twitter Communications, Google India and the chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Central Board of Film Certification and seeks the immediate withdrawal of the certification issued to the film and if it not has been certified, the approval may be granted only after the objectionable scenes are deleted and the poster is fully withdrawn from all offline and online platforms.

Mumbai, 7 November 2018, WSN News Bureau