BJP slams Amarinder for banning Da Vinci Code

Chandigarh, May 26 (UNI) The BJP today criticised Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for banning the film ''Da Vinci Code'' in the state .

''The Congress government sees mere electoral politics rather than safeguarding the interests of the Roman Catholics in the state,'' BJP national secretary Harjit Singh Grewal and the party's youth wing's national executive member Vineet Joshi said in a joint statement issued here.

''The decision is a mere political eyewash as this film was not scheduled to be screeend in any of the cinema halls in Punjab so far,'' they said.

The BJP leaders here termed the decision as ''another tool of the chief minister to play with the politics of caste and religion and dividing the people, rather than upholding the secular credentials of the Constitution''.

They further stated there was no public demand of the Catholic groups in the state to ban the film and termed this act as an ''electoral gimmick'' to appease the Christian community.

The BJP leaders pointed out that the Union gopvernment had already cleared the film for release after the special screening was attended by Union I and B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

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