After IIIT-H cancellation, Umar Khalid film screened at NALSAR

Students at NALSAR University of Law screened a documentary on jailed activist Umar Khalid on Wednesday, days after proposed screenings at IIIT-Hyderabad and NLSIU Bengaluru were cancelled amid objections over certification and opposition to the film

Hyderabad: A group of students from the city-based NALSAR University of Law organised a screening of a documentary on jailed activist Umar Khalid on the campus, a student of the institute said on Thursday.

The screening of the documentary, Prisoner No. 626710 is Present, directed by filmmaker Lalit Vachani, was organised late on Wednesday evening “in solidarity”, the student said.

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The screening comes against the backdrop of the documentary’s recent cancellation at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad.

IIIT-Hyderabad had issued “disciplinary warnings” to eight students associated with an independent campus platform that sought to initiate conversations on caste, merit and politics, stating that the group was not authorised by the institute.

The undergraduates are associated with No Tyrants, No Silence (NTNS), a platform that had proposed screening the documentary on jailed activist Khalid on the campus on September 18. The proposal drew objections from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), following which the screening was cancelled.

Earlier, on September 17, the CBFC had said that the public screening of a documentary that had not been certified by it would violate the Cinematograph Act unless a specific exemption had been obtained. It was referring to the proposed screening of Prisoner No. 626710 is Present.

The ABVP Bengaluru unit claimed on September 19 that the proposed screening of the documentary at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), which had earlier been postponed, had been cancelled.

The documentary had been proposed to be screened at the university, with the RSS-affiliated students’ body ABVP opposing it. The screening was subsequently cancelled.

Khalid was arrested in September 2020 in connection with the northeast Delhi riots case and was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). He has been accused by the prosecution of being part of the alleged larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead.