NEW DELHI/CALCUTTA, FEBRUARY 16: With director Deepa Mehta and actress Shabana Azmi heading for Calcutta to hold talks with the West Bengal Government on Friday for shooting the film, Water, in the state, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today vowed not to allow Mehta to shoot the film anywhere in the country. This is a snub to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who had appealed for expressing ``differences of opinion within the `Laxman Rekha' of democratic limits''.``Is the `Laxman Rekha' only for us and not for others like Mehta and the Government?'' VHP joint secretary Acharya Giriraj Kishore said when asked to comment on the Prime Minister's remarks at a function organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) last week. ``There may be differences of opinion between people but no one should attack others' freedom of expression,'' Vajpayee had said.The VHP's decision is significant since the RSS brass, at a meeting on January 20, is learnt to have allowed its affiliated organisations to protest against Government decisions whenever they feel like. The meeting, chaired by RSS deputy chief K S Sudarshan and attended by the leaders of its affiliates, like Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), VHP, Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), decided to start the protests after a fortnight.In the wake of this, the affiliates are busy identifying issues and deciding on the mode and extent of their protests. The VHP outburst today seems to be a part of the Sangh's strategy. Organisations like the SJM and the BMS are expected to take a hard look at the Union Budget, a senior RSS leader said. After the VHP, the BMS became the second RSS affiliate today to protest against a Government decision: Privatisation of the National Fertilisers Limited (NFL).The VHP has accused Mehta of having received Rs 76 crore from a Canadian church to make Water as she herself lives in Canada. Kishore thundered: ``The Hindu public will not allow shooting of the film even in West Bengal or anywhere else in India. The shooting may be allowed only if the film's script is cleared by the Kashi Vidwat Parishad.''Asked why Mehta was being singled out by the VHP and the Centre which had cleared the ``controversial'' script was being spared, Kishore said the VHP had registered its protest with Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley on phone as well as in writing. ``Such films should not be allowed to be shot in India,'' Kishore told Jaitley, saying the latter's response was still awaited.Meanwhile, West Bengal Deputy Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee today told reporters that Mehta and Shabana were arriving in Calcutta on February 18 to hold talks on shooting the film in the state.Shabana has already spoken to Chief Minister Jyoti Basu over the phone, requesting for his permission for shooting in West Bengal, Bhattacharjee, who also holds the portfolios of Home (Police) and Information and Cultural Affairs, said.Asked whether the shooting of the film in the state would not lead to protests as witnessed in Varanasi, Bhattacharjee said: ``The people of West Bengal are peace loving. There will be no problem.''BJP's electoral ally, the Trinamool Congress, has welcomed Mehta to the state and criticised the BJP for its opposition to the shooting despite the script being cleared by the Centre.The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee has praised the West Bengal Government's decision to allow the shooting in the state, adding that the permission should have been given much earlier.Referring to the CPI(M)'s opposition to the shooting of Roland Joffe's City of Joy here in the early '90s, Bhattacharjee had said yesterday: ``We did not like the film but the Government allowed the shooting nevertheless.''
