NEW DELHI: The just-ended national film awards season signed off under a cloud, after disgruntled jury members expressed their displeasure over ‘An Insignificant Man’, a documentary on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal not making it even to the list of films eligible for the awards.

Official sources said that the seven-member jury, headed by Nakul Kamte, who is also known for his work on ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Rang De Basanti, had conflicting views on the documentary, with at least four jurists praising the political documentary and wanting it to be rewarded

Assamese filmmaker Bhaskar Hazarika, Malayalam artist Christo Tomy, filmmakers RV Ramani and Ranjit Ray, cultural activist Aradhana Pradhan and writer Maneesha Kulshreshta were part of the jury. According to sources, only Pradhan and Kulshreshta strongly objected to the film getting rewarded.

Those in the know of the matter said it was constant pressure from the ministry that prevented the documentary from being even discussed as part of deliberations that happened on the last day before the process ended, as it would have caused embarrassment to the government if the movie on Kejriwal, a bitter critic of the Modi government, had made it to the winners’ list.

The jury finally decided not to present “best film in non feature” category for this year.

According to a jury member, the panel had finished watching over 150 movies between April 1 and April 9, and on the ninth day, a day before the deliberations began, they were told that An Insignificant Man cannot be considered for any award, not even a special mention, and that because of technical reasons and lack ot clarity over its agreement with NFDC, it should not have been screened at all.

The panel had however already watched the movie on the third day of the screenings.

“We felt it was a nicely made film that showed the vulnerabilities of a common man getting into politics. We were also told the ministry had the power to veto any film selected by the jury so we couldn’t do anything about it,” a member of the jury said, adding that the panel had also approached members of Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) with regard to this, but there was no response

The ministry then had conducted a thorough enquiry into how the movie even made it to the screening and why it was shown to the jury. It is believed that the C Senthil Rajan, director of Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) was repatriated to his parent cadre Indian Information Services and put on a ‘compulsory wait’ after this dispute. Senthil Rajan was the official in charge of facilitating the selection process.

Directed by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla, An Insignificant Man documents the life of Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM and founder of India’s Aam Aadmi party, during his election campaign in late 2012.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had refused to clear the documentary and had asked the filmmakers to obtain a ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and Kejriwal himself for the film to be certified for release. The filmmakers were also asked to beep out the names of politicians in Congress and BJP. However, Film Certification Tribunal (FCAT) had later cleared it.

The 65th National Film Awards were held at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on May 3. The ceremony got marred by controversy after it was announced that President Ram Nath Kovind will not be giving away awards to all the 140 winners but the selection of winners was welcomed, as it had a good mix of Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali and Assamese films, and also films made in languages such as Tulu, Jasari and Ladakhi.

New Delhi: There was tremendous pressure on the city police to register fake, politically motivated cases against AAP leaders, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Friday, after he was questioned in connection with the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash at his residence in February.

He said the AAP government was doing very well and and the Centre, which wanted to throw spanners in its works, had sent the police and the Lieutenant Governor after it.

Kejriwal claimed it was for the first time in the country’s history that a chief minister was questioned in “such a fake” case.

In a statement he posted on Twitter shortly after the questioning ended, the chief minister said it was meant to trouble the AAP, but we will continue to work for the country till our last breath.

He, however, said the questioning took place in a “very congenial atmosphere” at his camp office-cum-residence in Civil Lines here.

“The police are not at fault. There is tremendous pressure on them to register fake cases. We will continue to cooperate with the investigating agencies in each case, he said.

“Like other cases were dismissed, the remaining ones will also be rejected because these are fake and politically motivated,” he said.

“The AAP government is doing very well in the fields of education, health, power, and water. The AAP is becoming increasingly popular among the masses. The BJP at the Centre wants to stop its works and therefore, it has sent the police and the LG after us,” he alleged.

He said the “fake cases” registered against him, his ministers, MLAs and relatives would be dismissed one by one by the courts.

Prakash was allegedly assaulted during a meeting at Kejriwal’s official residence on February 19. The police said the chief minister was present when the incident took place.

Kejriwal had agreed to join the probe following a notice by the Delhi Police on May 16.

The Delhi Police has often drawn flak for numerous instances of shoddy investigation and brash behaviour. On May 17, the Delhi High Court pulled up the Delhi Police and observed that it was the reason Delhi was being called the crime capital of India.

Its unprofessionalism has now caused much embarrassment to the agency in most of the cases against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs — and it has received reprimand in the court of law for wrongfully arresting the ruling party’s legislators.

Delhi Police is biased and politically motivated. And this becomes clear when we take a look at two cases which were registered in Delhi on February 20, 2018.

The first was filed upon the complaint of Anshu Prakash, the chief secretary of Delhi, while the second by Delhi minister Imran Hussain. In one case, the CM’s house was raided, two MLAs arrested and now the chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will be questioned on Friday, May 18. In the second case, lodged following a complaint by minister Imran Hussain — which was supported by video evidence — hardly any action was taken. The chief secretary of Delhi is among those accused in the complaint.

However, the police has not even included the bureaucrat’s name in the FIR, let alone move any further in the case.

Allegations without proof

On February 20, 2018, at dawn, reporters covering crime and Delhi government were fed with a big breaking story. They received a message on their WhatsApp that the preceding night, the chief secretary of Delhi was manhandled by AAP MLAs during a meeting at the chief minister’s residence, in his presence. A complaint was filed by the chief secretary around 10.15am on February 20 and an FIR lodged at 1pm by the Delhi Police.

Even though there was no evidence and just a complaint, as expected, the police acted as swiftly as it could and questioned the MLAs and officers working with the chief minister, the CM’s house was raided and two AAP MLAs arrested. The legislators, however, got bail from the court.

Now, the Delhi Police has served a notice to the chief minister, seeking to question him on Friday, May 18.

Thrashed on tape

On the very day the story of the chief secretary purportedly being manhandled was planted, a mob — claiming to be officers — took over the Delhi Secretariat in full view of the Delhi Police. They were seen assembling on the second floor of the secretariat around 11-11.30pm and were later joined by another lot which came down to the second floor, post a meeting over the issue.

The mob was first addressed by some so called “officers”. Their speeches were quite provocative. Soon after the series of sermons came to an end, sloganeering started — these, too, were incendiary in nature. This was captured on tape and reported by the media.

Around noon, minister Imran Hussain was entering the Delhi Secretariat with his colleagues. First, he was mobbed by the 400-strong “officers” and then he and his colleagues were roughed up. This, too, was caught on camera.

A complaint was made to the police and an FIR lodged — and even the video evidence was submitted to the Delhi Police. However, hardly has any action been taken. One of the accused, Ravindar Parmar, was arrested after a non-bailable warrant was issued, but was granted bail within minutes! It was all just an eyewash a day before CM was to be questioned.

The chief secretary, who has been named as an accused in the complaint, has faced no action yet. His name has not even been included in the FIR.

He has been named as a conspirator by Imran Hussain as some of those who attacked the minister had come allegedly out of the chief secretary’s room before the attack.

However, action against the bureaucrat is hardly expected and there is a reason to it.

Double standards

The police in Delhi doesn’t report to the elected Delhi government, but to the ministry of home affairs, through the lieutenant-governor. The chief secretary yields influence over Delhi Police since he is the one who writes the annual report of the force’s top brass.

In such a scenario, how can the Delhi Police act against the chief secretary? And why won’t they act in a biased manner against the elected government and the Aam Aadmi party (AAP)?

It’s very simple, everyone follows the boss.

What makes it amply clear is a confidential letter that has made it to the public domain, from the special secretary of L-G to the Commissioner of Police of Delhi. The letter shows L-G’s unhappiness at the several cases filed against AAP MLAs falling flat in the courts. It also indicates that the Delhi L-G was unhappy at the Delhi Police’s “lacklustre” investigation. Such a letter from someone holding a constitutional post is shameful.

But it makes it clear why and how the Delhi Police adopts double standards when it comes to the CM, his Cabinet colleagues or functionaries of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The questioning of the Delhi chief minister is nothing but a witch-hunt by the central government through its agencies. The popularity of the AAP government and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has always been a matter of concern for the BJP and is another attempt to demoralise the party and malign the CM.

However, the Centre as well as the ruling party BJP will once again fail in their agenda like they have numerous times before — and it will further strengthen the faith of the people in their chief minister.

Bahujan Azad Party was formed as its founders felt cheated by political parties
It was in the summer of 2015 when Naveen Kumar, fresh out of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi, decided to head back to his home State of Bihar and campaign for the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) between Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal United (JD-U) and the Congress as he believed it would bring in social justice. His experience while working for the campaign, he says, was an eye-opener. But what happened afterwards left him disillusioned.

‘Hurt and cheated’

“I worked very hard for the campaign, and visited every nook and corner of Bihar to spread Mr. Prasad’s message that he would bring in social change and that no person would have to migrate from Bihar in order to find a job. But after all that effort when the alliance came to power, all promises were forgotten. I felt let down, hurt and cheated,” said Naveen.

It was this experience that he shared with several other like-minded IITians, who then decided to leave their jobs and preparations for the Civil Services examination to form the Bahujan Azad Party (BAP).

“We are 50 like-minded students, mostly from IIT, who decided to work full-time to start a youth-based revolution that will work towards a better society for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. A society in which their full potential will be utilised and there will be no discrimination,” he added.

On comparisons with IIT alumnus, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who set out to change the image of a political party by forming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Naveen said, “We do not want to be another IITian adventure like Mr. Kejriwal, who has deceived people with his agenda. We want only those people to join us who truly believe that they have the energy to work towards being masters of the nation and not slaves.”

Applied for registration

Party members said although they have little political experience, they have applied for registration as a political party with he Election Commission and plan to make their debut in the 2020 Bihar elections.

“We have started at the block level and have found a lot of support from people who have lost faith in the current lot of political parties. It is these people who will spread our message,” said Naveen.

Sarkar Akhilesh, from IIT Kharagpur, said what pushed him to dedicate himself full-time to politics was not one incident in particular but his entire childhood.

“I grew up in a village in Bihar which had poor education facilities, healthcare and no social justice. After coming to IIT, I realised that cast-based discrimination was prevalent not only in my village but across India and even in the private sector,” said Sarkar.

He said one of the agendas of the BAP will be to call for reservation in the private and corporate sector.

“If you study the judiciary and the bureaucracy, you will see that very few people in high positions are from backward castes. Even in corporate offices, people are given promotions based on their surname,” said Sarkar, promising that his party will work to bring in a just society for people from backward castes who are unable to show their full potential.

Life of dignity

When it comes to funding, Naveen said they have received support from their alumni and as of now their expenses are being covered by people who invite them to villages to hold rallies to talk about how in the current political scenario no party is letting those from the SC/ST and OBC communities live a life of dignity.