Meeting to lift ‘ban’ on Zindagi Tamasha postponed

A special government committee meeting to examine the ban on Sarmad Khoosat’s film Zindagi Tamasha has been postponed according to the Punjab government’s spokesperson on Monday.

The film wasn’t officially banned but it was pulled back from screening after it was cleared by the central and provincial censor boards. It was scheduled for another review on February 3.

Censor boards in Sindh and Punjab claimed that they were told that if the film was released it would cause “unrest within some segments of society”.

According to a censor board member, no decision could be taken till the film was reviewed by the Council of Islamic Ideology’s four-member committee.

The government and censor boards referred Khoosat’s film to the CII for a review as well. The council is supposed to report back to the chairperson of the censor boards about the theme of the film and its impact on society.

However, the CII claimed that they had not seen the film yet and were waiting for the censor board to respond to their letter regarding a viewing.