The Hindu : Osama play under Bengal Govt. scanner

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 09, 2002

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National

Osama play under Bengal Govt. scanner

KOLKATA DEC. 8. A roving play eulogising the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, has come under the scanner of the West Bengal Government, which has asked South 24 Parganas district administration to send a team and verify if the `yatra' had any content that could fuel communal sentiments.

The play, in which a character called Osama bin Laden sporting a long beard portrays the Saudi dissident as a hero, was doing the rounds of rural Bengal for quite some time and is now screened at Sarisaghat in South 24 Parganas district.

``We have asked the administration to see the play and verify if the contents can mould public opinion in a negative way. If it is found to be sensitive, we would see to it that the play is not staged any more,'' the Sunderban Development Minister of State, Kanti Ganguly, said today.

The play, staged at the Sarisa High School ground on Saturday night, had the Osama look-alike draped in white overalls holding out hysterical threats in typical melodramatic dialogues, "I don't fear anyone... If you kill us, we will kill you. Revenge... revenge... revenge.''

Introduced as a `yatra' that showcases the happenings in the contemporary world where justice must be `snatched' if it is not delivered, the show has been pulling good crowds.

Shah Alam, an avid yatra-goer said, ``the play shows Osama as a good man, a hero like those in Hindi films. We liked the way he has been portrayed.''

PTI

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