Bangladesh MPs urge tougher censorship
Indo-Asian News Service
Farid Ahmed
Members of the Bangladesh parliament have urged the government to introduce a tough censorship law with provisions for jailing and fining those responsible for producing and screening obscene movies.
Obscene films are being screened regularly as there is little scope for punishment in the existing law, said Ebadur Rahman Chowdhury, chairman of a 10-member parliamentary committee.
Members of the parliamentary standing committee have expressed grave concern over obscenity and vulgarity shown in movies.
Earlier Information Minister M. Shamsul Islam said the government would stop obscenity and nudity in films at any cost and would operate mobile courts, if necessary, to take action against the theatres and producers who screen these kinds of films.
"The government recently drafted a bill proposing stringent punishment for the people involved in obscenity in movies, but we urge the government to make the law tougher," another parliament member told IANS.
The Censorship of Films (Amendment) Bill 2005 aims to get tough on a section of filmmakers who have introduced obscenity in their films to make more profits, he said.
If it is enacted by parliament, any filmmakers proved guilty of using obscene shots in a movie will face up to three years in jail.
The existing law enacted in 1963 provides for a maximum punishment of three months in prison for an obscene or pornographic film, but loopholes have allowed filmmakers to evade jail.
Bangladesh produces nearly 100 low-budget Bengali films each year but the number of cinemagoers is on the decline and many believe obscenity shown in films to be the reason behind it.
According to the National Board of Revenue in Dhaka, the annual investment of two billion taka (almost $33.9 million) has come down to a fourth in 10 years and government revenue from the movie theatres has come down to half.
The spread of satellite channels and video piracy are the other reasons that have reduced the number of moviegoers drastically, shrinking the overall investment in the industry in a decade.
"We can`t overcome the slump in the industry unless action is taken against illegal business of video CDs and also vulgarism in local movies," said Ashrafuddin Ahmed Ujjal, a film producer and also a yesteryear hero in Dhaka`s film industry.
Around 300 cinema halls, out of a total of 1,200 in the country have closed down over the decade.
At least 500 out of the remaining 800 are facing problems with a sharp decline in the number of viewers and investments, according to the Bangladesh Motion Pictures Exhibitors Association.