Aligarh telecast mutes homosexual: It's as if they don't exist even after a film like Aligarh

The Censor Board muted the words 'homosexual' and 'gair mard' from the world television premiere of Hansal Mehta's Aligarh on Sunday (September 11).

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Manoj Bajpayee in a still from Aligarh
Manoj Bajpayee in a still from Aligarh

The world television premiere of Hansal Mehta's Aligarh, based on the societal taboo around homosexuality, had key words like 'homosexual' and 'gair mard' muted, on the channel &PicturesHD.

The film, based on the life of late AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) professor Srinivas Ramchandra Siras who was suspended from the university for having consensual sex with a man, released in February 2016, and was highly acclaimed for its writing, direction and the sensitive portrayal of Siras by National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee.

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Moments after Aligarh was telecast on Sunday (September 11), the film's writer Apurva Asrani took to Twitter to condemn the undue censorship of the words.



He also expressed his anger in a Facebook post:

Homosexuality, at present is illegal in 76 countries around the world, with India being one of them. While most of the developed world, including North America, South America, Europe and Australia has de-criminalised homosexuality, India still has not been able to come to terms with the fact that it is alright and natural for a person to be attracted to an individual of the same sex.

India shares its stance on homosexuality with countries like Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, among others.

Countries where homosexuality is legal include China, Iraq, North Korea, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.