Guwahati: Assamese film organisations and movie stars of Assam today (Nov 13) defied the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) "ban" on screening Hindi films in the State from November 15 by going on hunger strike in protest.

Speakers at the hunger strike organised by the Eastern India Motion Pictures said the proscribed outfit was neither the cultural police nor equipped to protect local culture, "when they avidly patronize pornographic movies as evidenced by the recovery of blue film cassettes from their camps".

The speakers also criticised the ULFA for singling out Hindi films, ignoring English ones or videos of "vulgar remixes of Hindi songs telecast by music channels, which they also watch".

The ULFA and eight militant outfits of the Northeast had on August 15 announced ban on Hindi films from November 15 describing them as "cultural invasion in its worst form".

The ban, the speakers said would lead 6,000 film industry employees to lose jobs and affect 50,000 people dependent on them.

Most of the 150 registered halls would have to shut down as sans Hindi films they could barely remain open for four months if they were to screen only 15 to 19 regional movies produced annually. Screening only regional films therefore was totally unviable, they said.

The speakers included Assamese film stars Nippon Goswami, Biju Phukan, Pranjal Saikia, Zerifa Wahid, besides representatives from cinema hall owners and film industry worker unions.

PTI