File picture of a Hindi movie being screened in a city hall

Oct. 26: City police are likely to deploy security personnel in and around cinema halls in view of the “ban” on Hindi films imposed by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) along with eight other militant organisation of the region.

The ban, first announced on August 15, will come into effect from November 15.

A city police official said the force is taking the issue seriously, especially in view of the banned outfits reiterating their resolve to enforce the ban.

The city has 14 halls.

“It is the people who will decide what they want to watch. But we will definitely be ready to ensure that no one disrupts the shows,” the police official said.

The state’s film industry has already decided to resist the ban saying thousands of people’s livelihood is linked to it directly or indirectly.

An industry source said the theatre owners — who are guided by viewer interest — may face a difficult time financially if forced to please the “anti-Hindi” brigade.

“The cinema hall owners are businessmen and hence have to cater to viewer tastes. It’s no use screening a film in an empty hall when he can bring in the crowds through another hit film,” the source added.

The Guwahati-based Eastern India Motion Pictures’ Association, which controls distribution of films in the region, said the ban would hit the industry hard, which is already reeling under piracy.

“We will ask the police and the government for help,” a member of the association said.

Its chairman C.S. Narayan and member Raj Kakati said they would continue to distribute Hindi films after their own “censorship”.

In a statement released this week, the Ulfa and the NDFB had said, “Knowing that this ban would affect the business and livelihood of some of our people, we have given them enough time to opt for other means of survival.” It added, “All possible measures will be taken up to put the ban into effect.”

The militant organisation termed the Bollywood films “cultural invasion” as they “have been providing nothing to the people of Assam except perverted desires of Indian eroticism”.

The outfit also said Assamese society was culturally rich enough and hence does not “need anything to absorb from the Hindi culture”.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has said it had nothing to do with the Ulfa’s call but added that the student community will continue to fight against “cultural imperialism”.

The nine militant organisations, which have called for the ban, include Arunachal Dragon Organisation, Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, Manipur Peoples Liberation Front, National Liberation Front of Tripura, the NSCN (K) and Tripura Peoples Democratic Front.

In a joint statement, the outfits said, “This step (ban) has become urgently necessary to fight against the invasion of hybrid Indian culture through Hindi films, which has dangerously undermined the strength of our socio-cultural roots. This must be stopped.”