Petition filed for lifetime ban on Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha

A petition has been filed in a court in Lahore seeking a lifetime ban on director Sarmad Khoosat’s unrealsed film Zindagi Tamasha.

The petition was filed two days after the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights approved the release of the film. On July 14, the committee said that they had reviewed the film and found nothing objectionable in it.

In a tweet, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that the Senate committee agreed with the censor board’s decision to allow the screening of the film.

Khokhar added that the panel had “found nothing wrong” with the film.

Related: Senate committee allows screening of Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha

“Senate HR committee has unanimously agreed with the censor board’s decision to allow the screening of film Zindagi Tamasha,” his tweet read. “We’ve found nothing wrong with it. Censor board has our go-ahead to release post-Covid. Detail reasoning to follow later.”

After the Senate committee gave permission for the release of the film, an organisation by the name of Anjuman Mehria Nasiriyah filed a petition for a ban on the film.

The organisation filed a petition in the Lahore additional sessions judge’s court, which held a brief hearing on July 16 with Judge Waseem Ahmed. During the hearing, Khoosat’s lawyer also submitted his power of attorney.

According to the petition, the film targeted religious sects and that if the film was released, there would be an uproar in society.

Furthermore, the petition also requested the court to impose a life ban on Zindagi Tamasha.

The court has sought reply from the filmmaker. The hearing has been adjourned till July 27.