Pahlaj Nihalani — the chairman of The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) — has spoken out on the certification row of Suman Ghosh's documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen titled "The Argumentative Indian". During the oral hearing at the CBFC office in Kolkata, Ghosh was miffed when he was offered the U certification provided he agreed to mute a few words including "Gujarat", "cow", "Hindu India" and "Hindutwa".

For those who are lashing out at CBFC, Nihalani said it's important to understand the context in which the words were used in the documentary. "People are only reading about the cuts but don't know the references. Do people know in what context 'Gujarat' was said in the documentary? It wasn't removed to curb anyone's freedom of expression. We are not sitting here to damage his film. If CBFC has found something that might damage the peace and harmony of the country, we have to give the suggestions and recommendations," he said.