MUMBAI:Close on the heels of the UP government, the Punjab government has also banned the screening of Aarakshan in the state. The ban will stay until the state screening committee previews the film and submits its report.

Earlier yesterday, the Mayawati government restricted the release of Prakash Jha‘s Aarakshan in Uttar Pradesh for two months on the grounds that it would create law and order problem in the state.
A decision to ban the film followed a recommendation by a high level official committee set up by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government to look into the matter.

The committee comprising Principal secretaries of Finance, Information, Higher Education and Rural Development departments and an official of Entertainment tax committee had earlier watched the film after which it submitted its recommendation.
 
Meanwhile, senior Maharashtra minister Chaggan Bhujbal also voiced his objections to certain scenes and dialogues in the film and wanted two scenes to be deleted. Later, after Jha resorted to Bhujbal’s diktat and got the two scenes deleted, the latter cleared the film for screening.

Now there is one stumbling block that Jha’s film has to overcome and that is the clearance of RPI leader Ramdas Athawale.