 "Pakistan I&B minister promises help to Nandita Das in lifting ban on Manto")
Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday assured his help to filmmaker Nandita Das in lifting the ban on her latest directorial Manto in the country. [caption id=“attachment_5209401” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Nawazuddin Siddiqui in and as Manto. Image via Twitter/@iamharshdesai[/caption] Chaudhry took to Twitter to extend his help, saying he was trying to convince film importers to present a “less commercial film” like the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer.
Das thanked the minister in another tweet:
Shukriya @fawadchaudhry #FreeSpeech https://t.co/1csLEBQT2o
— Nandita Das (@nanditadas) December 16, 2018
The minister’s statement came in response to Das’ tweet on Saturday where she expressed her disappointment on the ban of the movie, a biopic on celebrated Urdu short story writer Saadat Hasan Manto who had migrated to Pakistan after Partition. “Disappointed that Manto will not be seen in theatres in Pakistan. I was keen as he belongs to both countries equally, " the director wrote. Das also expressed her gratitude towards activists, writers and artistes from Pakistan who raised their voice protesting against the ban of her film Manto in the neighbouring country and appealed to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan via an open letter. “I am grateful to the activists, writers, artists, and concerned citizens in Pakistan, who have spontaneously come together and signed an open letter to their PM appealing…” she wrote. The filmmaker also shared the link of the letter, which has been signed by 16 people including Manto’s daughters Nighat, Nusrat and Nuzhat. In October this year, the Pakistan Film Producers Association (PFPA) demanded a complete ban on the release of Indian films in the country. Chaudhry Ejaz Kamran, a senior official in the PFPA, had said when Pakistani films are not screened in India, why should they screen Indian films in the country.
 "US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth")
 "US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'")
 "China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands")
 "Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit")
 "US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth")
 "US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'")
 "China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands")
 "Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit")
](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/manto-825.jpg){kind=link}