Hello Censor Board! Punjab Is More Than Your ‘Bhangra-Lassi-Makke Di Roti’ And You Can NOT Hide It!

India: A word that represents more than a country, more than a nation, more than what can be fathomed on boundaries on this earth. It represents an idea. A feeling, that makes people feel at home even when they’re travelling thousand kilometers away.  A connection, that brings a million identities together. Yes, that is what it is for me. But let’s face the fact:  We’re far from perfect.

Yes, we are world’s largest democracy, but we are also home to one of the highest numbers of malnourished children in the world. We are culturally more diverse than almost all the countries surrounding us, yet we are also struggling with identity clashes and polarization of interests in politics. I think I have made my point here. Enough of examples, let’s get down to the real deal here.

Bollywood and Punjab are inseparable. Ever since movies started focusing on Punjab, they have highlighted the dramatic vibrancy of this state of five rivers. Talk about music, all the foot tapping numbers have come out in the form of Punjabi folksongs or Bhangra Beats. Talk about food, the majority of the North India is heavily influenced by its lip-smacking cuisine. Talk about culture, from national to international borders the colorful aspects of Punjab have earned admirers, much to the pride and glee of our country and countrymen.

Then, Dear Central Board of Film Certification a.k.a. Censor Board, why in the name of heavens are you trying to run away when it is high time to address one of the biggest problems of Independent India which is eating an entire generation hollow?

This is not a made up story, this is not historical fiction, this is not a fairy tale where dragons exist only to be slain by Princes and everything goes alright. Punjab, as a borderline state of India has been suffering from the problem of Drug abuse since years. According to various reports and research papers published in news pieces as well as independent research publications, it has been proved that the majority of young people in Punjab are involved in substance abuse.

There is a popular quote from the famous film trilogy, “The Matrix” where Morpheus tells Neo, "You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

If you want to stop reading, stop now. After this there is no going back, as the murkiest details of how a flourishing state of India fell from grace can disturb you beyond your imagination. The ones taking the red pill, hold your breath. This is what the Censor Board doesn’t want to show you.

The state which once was the most fertile state of the country and heralded the green revolution is in shambles now. Due to lowering fertility of soil, increasing poverty and rising unemployment, almost 70% of the youth in Punjab is addicted to drugs now. Most badly hit areas are Amritsar, Bhatinda, Jalandhar and Patiala, according to sources. To paint the true picture in front of your eyes, let me cite an example for you. Just a few kilometers away from Amritsar, there’s a village called ‘Maqboolpura’ which is now termed as the ‘Village of orphans and widows’ because most of its young men or grown up males have lost their lives to drugs.  

Punjab shares almost 553-kilometer-long border with Pakistan, and officials have also admitted that most of the trafficking happens through this line. How does that happen, go figure. Even through the fences, throwers manage to fling packets of drugs which are then collected by ‘carriers’ here who take the drugs to peddlers. In turn, these packets get distributed to wider areas through Delhi. Since these carriers use Sim cards from Pakistan and hence use their towers, Indian receptors don’t track their calls or texts. Very brilliant, unlike the brains we have here sitting in offices, deciding what one should watch and what not.

The upper classes can afford high-end drugs like Heroine or Cocaine. The middle class and the lower ones have to make do with synthetic substitutes which fall under the category of drugs which are easily available on Pharma shops anywhere in the villages.  The chemists give out these drugs without any prescription, on a price that is three, or four times higher than the market rate. Many hospitals admit drug addicts in a condition where they have infected limbs, soiled body parts or near paralysis.  

That is the Punjab you want to hide? That is the Punjab which is troubling you? That is the plight of millions of people whom you want to suppress from coming out to the world just because they have elections coming up? You are happy when you see happy faces chirping and singing ‘Ishq tera tadpave’ on Bhangra Beats and constant hollering of ‘Makke di roti hor sarson da saag’ on screen. That is NOT your stereotypical Punjab, CBFC. It’s not.   Where do you run away and hide when films like Grand Masti, Kya Kool Hain Hum, and Mastizaade release and go on to mint crores? Where does your righteousness go? That’s not something you are troubled with, why? Because double meaning jokes are cool for the Bharatiya Sanskriti but exposing the ugly underbelly of the Great Indian Giant Sanskaari Elephant is a big NO NO.  

If the film-making fraternity is taking chances to take up something which, for once, actually deals with the issues that matter to us as the collective identity of a nation, the least you can do is to be supportive. Don’t give lame excuses about swearing, we all know it is NOT the swearing that is irking you. Your job is to certify films, as your name suggests. Stick to it. Otherwise stop milking the stereotypes shown in the films and being a hypocrite. You want the makers to drop ‘Punjab’ from the film? Then you clearly want a state to give up its identity because its truth bothers you.  

You’re no lover of the nation, CBFC. You’re just another bunch of people clubbed together to exercise their whims and fancies on people as per the wish of people who control you. If you have a problem with the ugly truth, maybe it’s you who needs to stop smoking up stuff and admit that you have a problem. Period.