THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG 2: Noted actress and MP Shabana Azmi has said she was opposed to the ban on the controversial Godse play, though she did not subscribe to the views expressed in it.``I oppose the ban on the play just as I condemned the attack on M F Husain and Ghulam Ali. People should have been given the opportunity to watch the play. If they did not like it, they should have expressed their opposition in a democratic manner,'' Shabana said, while taking part in an interface with students organised by Kerala University Union at the Senate Chamber here on Saturday evening.``Banning a play is as much a fascist move as attacking Husain. It is a sign of intolerance,'' she said.Shabana said that no organisation should be allowed to decide what people should see or read. ``Freedom is about choice. People should have choice,'' she added.The essence of Indianness was a pluralistic spirit which should be celebrated and protected. Attacks on this composite culture in the name of nationhood should beresisted, she said.People should decide whether they wanted the large-hearted Hinduism which Swami Vivekenanda preached or the narrow-minded Hindutva. ``It is for the people to say whether they want the love of Islam or the version of the Shahi Imam,'' Shabana pointed out. Though there was much hue and cry in the beginning over the so called satellite invasion of the country, the fact remained that things had changed. Star TV, for instance, was now telecasting more Indian programmes. ``We should use this opportunity to get our point of view across,'' she said.Hindi cinema has become a flogging horse for everyone. Every ill of society is ascribed to Hindi cinema. ``People should not forget that mainstream Hindi cinema has been a kind of unifying link. I do not think there is as much violence in Hindi cinema as is there in society,'' Shabana said.``Of course, the standards of Hindi cinema needs to be improved. For instance we cannot see a working woman in any Hindi movie. We still take our women frommythology,'' she pointed out.Regarding her social activism and work for slum dwellers, she said it was unfair to think that those who belonged to the so called `elite' had no deep feelings. She had interacted with the poor and had understood their problems. ``I am not foolish enough to think that I have all solutions to their problems.'' she said.``Though I have all respect for Left parties, I would like to maintain my freedom,'' Shabana said when asked whether she would join the cabinet if the Left Front forms a Government at Centre.
