Government Colleges 'Directed' to Attend Screening of Film on PM Narendra Modi in Guwahati, Opposition lambasts BJP

Guwahati: Screening of Chalo Jeete Hain, a film based on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Guwahati has attracted the wrath of the opposition after the Assam Government had ‘directed’ all government colleges of Kamrup Metropolitan district to send 30 students accompanied by teachers to attend the programme.

The film, however, was screened at the Sreemanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra Auditorium and was open to anyone who wished to attend.

The controversy surfaced when a circular from the Office of the Higher Education Department mentioned about the government directive to all Government colleges in Kamrup (M) to compulsorily attend the screening. This irked the Opposition as well as student bodies.

According to media reports, the circular read that “30 students along with teachers from all government colleges of the Kamrup metro district, had been “directed” to attend the screening. It also read that the “student community will be mostly benefitted from viewing this movie.”

At the wake of the disappointment and controversy, All Assam Student’s Union General Secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “Most importantly, if it was a movie on the life and struggles of personality like Mahatma Gandhi, I’d understand. But what has the Prime Minister Narendra Modi done till now that he warrants a documentary to be made on him?”

Terming the circular as a gimmick for political mileage in the wake of 2019 polls, the AASU General Secretary further added that “The Assam Government’s directive for compulsory attendance by students is a mockery of democracy. While on one side, the BJP government vehemently wants to curb the democratic rights to protest and at the same time they pressurize them to attend film screenings like this.”

Meanwhile, the officials of the Assam Higher Education Department have denied the allegations of issuing any such circular. An official on the department said that the screening was open to all and no such compulsory directive were ever issued.

Chalo Jeete Hain is a 32-minute long film by Mangesh Hadawale where the young actor’s life is patronized as that of a school-going young Narendra Modi trying to find out who his friends, family and teachers “live for”.