New Delhi:

Actor-politician Kangana Ranaut has agreed to requests from the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) for cuts in her directorial “Emergency”, the Bombay High Court was told today. During the hearing on a petition by the movie’s co-producers, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, seeking the release of the censor certificate so the movie can hit the screens, the CBFC informed the court that Ms Ranaut, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, had an interaction with them and has agreed with the cuts as suggested by the censor board’s revising committee.

A division bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday.

According to reports, the CBFC had asked for 13 cuts in the film, in which Kangana Ranaut is playing the lead role of former prime minister late Indira Gandhi. It was not immediately clear if she had agreed to all the suggestions.

Directed and co-produced by Ms Ranaut, the movie which also stars Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Vishak Nair, Mahima Chaudhry, and Milind Soman in pivotal roles, is based on the Emergency imposed in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

It was scheduled to release on September 6, but ran into trouble after complaints of historical inaccuracies and misrepresenting the Sikh community.

Earlier this month, the court directed the CBFC to take a final call, accepting the film ratings body’s reservations but noting “it is not for CBFC to decide whether this affects public order”.

Justice BP Colabwalla had pointed out Kangana Ranaut’s production is not a documentary, and asked, “Do you think the public is so naive they will believe everything in a movie? What about creative freedom?”

The court also said the CBFC “can’t sit on the fence”. “Take a decision. Let’s see what the revising committee says, be it deciding to release or not, take a decision. Have the courage to say that the film should not be released. We will appreciate the stand of the CBFC,” it said.

Abhinav Chandrachud, the censor board’s counsel, told the court some scenes show a polarising figure cutting a deal with political parties.

Kangana Ranaut On Censor Board’s Cuts On “Emergency”

Kangana Ranaut last week said the suggestions from the censor board for cuts in “Emergency” “seem quite unreasonable”.

“We’ve received requests for cuts, but while feedback is always welcome, some of the suggestions seem quite unreasonable… On the brighter side, most historians and members of the review committee who’ve seen it have praised it as the most faithful depiction of a leader,” Ms Ranaut said.

“They’ve especially appreciated our unwavering commitment to the truth, without compromising even the smallest detail. Their endorsement is encouraging, affirming that we’ve honored the story as it deserves. Nevertheless, we are ready to stand our ground and protect the film’s integrity, ensuring its essence remains intact,” she added.

Kurukshetra:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Congress on Saturday, alleging that the “royal family” of the opposition party wants to do away with the reservation for Dalits and asserting that as long as he is there, he will not allow a fraction of the quota given by B R Ambedkar to be looted or removed. The prime minister said this while addressing his first rally in Haryana in the run-up to the October 5 state Assembly polls.

Addressing the rally in Kurukshetra district, PM Modi recalled certain incidents that took place when the Congress was in power in the state and asked the gathering, “Who knows the anti-Dalit face of the Congress better than Haryana?”

He accused the Gandhi family of being the “biggest anti-Dalit, anti-OBC and anti-tribal” force in the country.

“They have now said if they come to power, they will end the reservation for Dalits and the downtrodden. This is the truth of this family,” PM Modi said.

The Gandhi family always “hated” BR Ambedkar and was strongly opposed to reservation, he alleged.

The family had “insulted” Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBC) and tribals, the prime minister alleged further.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been attacking the Congress, saying Rahul Gandhi is against reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes and OBC, and his prejudice against the provision came out in the open during his recent interaction with the students of Georgetown University in the United States.

The BJP’s accusation came after Mr Gandhi told the students at the prestigious university that the Congress would think of scrapping reservations when “India is a fair place”, which he said is not the case right now.

Taking on the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, PM Modi claimed that he too had opposed reservation.

“He had written to the chief ministers of the states in this regard. There is proof of this. Nehruji had said if people get jobs due to reservation, the quality of government service will drop. These were the words of Nehruji,” he said.

Jawaharlal Nehru put the Kakasaheb Kalekar Commission’s report on the OBC reservation on the back burner, he claimed, adding that Jawaharlal Nehru’s daughter, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, had also stalled the OBC reservation.

The Mandal Commission was formed under the Janata Party government but when the Congress returned to power, it put the commission’s report on the back burner, he claimed.

“Rajivji (former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi) also did not let the OBC get reservation,” he said.

Then Mandal Commission report was implemented during the V P Singh government, which was supported by the BJP, PM Modi said.

“As the opposition leader in Parliament, Rajiv Gandhi had opposed the reservation. In an interview, he had dubbed those who got reservations as ‘buddhu’,” he claimed.

There could not be a bigger insult to the SC, ST and OBC communities than this, the prime minister said.

“Now, the royal family of the Congress is again insisting on doing away with reservation. But the Congress should listen to me carefully. As long as PM Modi is here, I will not allow a fraction of the reservation given by Baba Saheb Ambedkar to be looted or removed.

“The SC, ST and OBC reservations will stay. This is Modi’s guarantee and we will fight for it,” he said.

No one knows the anti-Dalit face of the Congress better than the people of Haryana, the prime minister said, adding that whenever the grand old party formed its government in the state, it became difficult for Dalits to live.

Referring to a 2005 incident in Gohana, he said, “Can any Dalit family forget it? In 2010, there was the Mirchpur incident. In 2012, the Bhagana incident and in 2014, what happened to daughters of Dalits? The soul shivers when someone recalls that shameful incident.” The then chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the “royal family” of the Congress kept mum at that time, PM Modi said.

The Dalit community needs to remain alert of the Congress, he added.

In the Gohana incident, a few Dalit houses were set ablaze by some people after a man from the community was suspected of being involved in the killing of an upper-caste person.

In the Mirchpur incident, on April 21, 2010, a group of villagers belonging to an upper caste allegedly torched more than a dozen Dalit houses, killing a teenage girl and her aged father.

PM Modi asked the Congress to take care of its “androoni Mahabharat” (infighting).

“The way the Congress is doing its politics in Haryana by putting one family forward, the entire Dalit Samaj is watching it,” he said, apparently referring to the Hooda family this time.

The prime minister asserted that the BJP government is committed towards the development of Haryana.

“During the previous Congress regime, corruption had become a ritual in Haryana,” he alleged.

Youngsters suffered because of this as they could not get jobs without “kharchi-parchi (favouritism, corruption)”, PM Modi said.

He said the BJP government ended this “game of kharchi-parchi”.

The government gave 1.5 lakh jobs in a transparent manner, PM Modi said.

He said Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is going to give 25,000 jobs to youngsters but the Congress “Bharti roko gang” is creating impediments to it.

The BJP forming its government in Haryana for a third straight time means “sabka vikas, tez vikas (fast development for all)”, the prime minister said.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on October 8.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Veteran political leader and CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit at the AIIMS New Delhi, died this afternoon. He was 72. His passing away was condoled by leaders spanning the political spectrum. The CPI-M leader was admitted to AIIMS on August 19 for the treatment of a pneumonia-like chest infection. Mr Yechury is survived by his wife and senior journalist Seema Chishti, daughter Akhila, and son Daanish. His 34-year-old son, Ashish Yechury, died of Covid in 2021.

Also Read | Left Veteran Sitaram Yechury Dies At 72 After Battling Respiratory Illness

A prominent leftist leader, renowned for his eloquence and active roles in both parliament and activism, he has left a mark on every facet of modern politics with his exceptional organisational skills and wide-reaching influence across political parties in India. Beginning his political career in the 1970s, he has also embraced modern technology and social media with remarkable ease. His interviews with popular podcasters have frequently gained attention, though he has not been immune to the spread of fake news in the digital age.

An old image of Sitaram Yechury with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi once went viral, accompanied by misleading information. A few years ago, multiple social media accounts shared a post falsely claiming that in 1975, during the Emergency, Indira Gandhi entered Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) with Delhi Police, assaulted CPI leader Yechury, who was then president of the JNU Students’ Union, and forced him to resign and publicly apologise for protesting against the Emergency. The archived version of one such post can be seen here.

However, the actual situation was very different. This photograph was shot outside of Indira Gandhi’s home, not at JNU. This image was taken when the emergency ended in 1977. Mr Yechury organised a demonstration in 1977 to demand that Indira Gandhi resign from her position as chancellor of the institution after being elected president of the JNU Students’ Union. Indira Gandhi was listening to Yechury as she read out the demands of the students’ union in the picture. Indira Gandhi held on to the post despite losing the Lok Sabha polls, which were held following the Emergency.

An alumnus of Delhi’s St Stephen’s College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mr Yechury started his political career with the Students’ Federation of India and joined the CPIM in 1975. He was pursuing his doctorate in economics from JNU when the Indira Gandhi government imposed the Emergency in 1975, and he was arrested along with many other leaders who would later play a key role in national politics. His PhD remained incomplete.

Mr Yechury was elected president of the JNU Student’s Union three times in a year after he was out of jail. It was during this time that he also met Prakash Karat, who would remain a lifelong companion.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday recalled what they went through during the dark days of Emergency and said that the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi put many of the leaders behind bars, but she never abused them.

In a post shared on X, the RJD chief shared an article “The Sangh Silence in 1975” written by him and journalist Nalin Verma. In the article, they attacked the BJP-led central government and said that although 1975 is a stain on the country’s democracy, let’s not forget who doesn’t respect the Opposition in 2024.

“I was the convener of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan–had constituted to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi. I was in jail under the Maintenance of Security Act (MISA) for over 15 months. My colleagues and I did not know many of the BJP ministers speaking about the Emergency today. We hadn’t heard of Modi, J P Nadda, and some of the PM’s other ministerial colleagues who today lecture us on the value of freedom,” he posted on X.

“Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us “anti-national” or “unpatriotic”. She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar–the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a stain on our democracy but let’s not forget who doesn’t respect the Opposition in 2024,” the RJD leader added.

On June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, imposed a 21-month state of emergency. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, which is considered one of the most controversial periods in India’s political history.

Earlier on Thursday, President Droupadi Murmu addressed the joint sitting of the Parliament and criticised the imposition of ‘Emergency’.

“Emergency was the biggest and darkest chapter of the direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country plunged into chaos during the Emergency, but the nation was victorious against such unconstitutional powers”, she said.

The remarks of the President have triggered reactions from the leaders of the INDIA bloc.

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attempting to gain cheap applause by making the President deliver a speech filled with lies.

“Modi Ji is trying to gain cheap applause by making the Honorable President speak lies, which the people of India have already rejected in the 2024 elections,” Kharge wrote on his official ‘X’ account.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Sant Kabir Nagar (Uttar Pradesh):

Taking a dig at the Congress and Gandhi family, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, grandmother of Rahul Gandhi gave slogans such as ‘Garibi Hatao’ but, in reality, the party never did anything for the poorer sections of society. He added that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who took care of 80 crore poor people in the country by giving them free ration.

Addressing an election rally in Sant Kabir Nagar, Amit Shah said, “They talk about the poor, Rahul Baba, your grandmother gave the slogan of eradicating poverty and you did nothing for the poor. PM Modi, the son of a poor tea seller, took care of 80 crore poor people in the country by giving free ration. Toilets were built in 12 crore houses, 4 crore pucca houses were constructed, Ujjwala gas cylinders were given to 10 crore mothers and sisters, pure tap water was provided to 14 crore houses.”

Amit Shah said that the Congress wants to snatch the reservation given to Other Backward Classes and transfer it to the Muslim community.

“In Karnataka and Hyderabad, the Congress Party reduced the reservation for backward and extremely backward classes by giving 5 per cent reservation to Muslims,” he said.

He further stated that this election is between those “who opened fire on Kar Sevaks in 1990 and those who constructed the Ram Temple”.

“Samajwadi Party opened fire on Ram bhakts, hundreds of kar sevaks were gunned down. This election is between those who shoot at Ram bhakts and those who built Ram Mandir,” he said.

Polling for the Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh is being held across all seven phases. Voting in the first five phases has already been completed, while the remaining phases are scheduled for May 25, and June 1. The counting of votes is on June 4.

In the 2019 polls, the BJP mopped up the bulk of the electoral spoils in the state, winning 62 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, while ally Apna Dal (S) won two more seats. Mayawati’s BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while her then-alliance partner, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, had to settle for just 5 seats. The Congress won just a lone seat in the state. In the 2014 elections, the BJP had swept UP, winning 71 seats, while the Congress could only bag two.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Watch | 50 years ago, India conducted its first ever nuclear test

Fifty years ago, India conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran, code-named Operation Smiling Buddha. With this India had entered the league of nations with nuclear capabilities.

An article dated May 19th, 1974, says India successfully conducted an underground test with plutonium device in 10-15 kiloton range. It also adds that the then Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Dr H.N Sethna and Director of The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre DR R Ramanna, who supervised the test, flew to Delhi even without a wash or change to give a full account to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

India said that it undertook this programme to develop its own technology for peaceful use of nuclear energy and it had no intention of going in for nuclear weapons. The groundwork for testing nuclear energy was laid even earlier by renowned Indian scientists Homi J Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. In 1954, the Department of Atomic Energy was founded, with Bhabha as director.

With Smiling Buddha, India became the first nation to conduct a nuclear test apart from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. After the nuclear test, there were criticisms that it was an attempt to divert people’s attention from the economic crisis the country was facing in the 1970s.

However, the Atomic Energy Commission chairman said that it was his decision and that there was no political motive,
Even a New York Times article said that “such great talent of resources has been squandered on the vanity of power, while 600 million Indians slip deeper into poverty”.

India also faced significant criticism from many countries including Pakistan, USA, and Canada. Pakistan said that it would never succumb to “nuclear blackmail” or accept “Indian hegemony or domination over the subcontinent”.

India did not carry out further nuclear tests until 1998. In 1998, under the leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India conducted a series of nuclear tests in Pokhran once again, code-named Operation Shakti.

With this, India declared itself a full-fledged nuclear state.

Script and production: Gayatri Menon

Research: Gayatri Menon and Murali Krishnaswamy

Archive photo courtesy: M. Srinath

Voiceover: Jude Francis Weston