Shobhaa De might face jail term if Maharashtra assembly finds her tweets on Marathi cinema offensive

Following writer Shobhaa De’s tweets against mandatory screening of Marathi films in prime time slots in multiplexes, where she termed the current Fadnavis government’s attitude similar to ‘dadagiri’, Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik moved a breach of privilege notice and demanded action against her on Wednesday.

Devendra 'Diktatwala' Fadnavis is at it again!!!From beef to movies. This is not the Maharashtra we all love! Nako!Nako! Yeh sab roko!

— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) April 7, 2015

I love Marathi movies. Let me decide when and where to watch them, Devendra Fadnavis. This is nothing but Dadagiri.

— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) April 7, 2015

No more pop corn at multiplexes in Mumbai? Dahi misal and vada pav only. To go better with the Marathi movies at prime time .

— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) April 7, 2015

Daily Mail  quoted Sarnaik, who branded Shobhaa De ‘anti-Marathi’ and added, “She has insulted the Marathi-speaking people and those who go to watch Marathi films, she should apologise or I would go ahead with the breach of privilege motion against her.”

The columnist later on Wednesday reacted to Sarnaik’s allegations and tweeted that she was a proud Maharashtrian and she always will be.

Now a privilege motion demanding an apology from me? Come on! I am a proud Maharashtrian and love Marathi films. Always have. Always will !

— Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) April 8, 2015

According to a report in The Times of India , if Shobhaa De is served with a notice, she will have to explain her views before the House. If the Maharashtra assembly finds her views objectionable, she could even face a jail term.

The speaker has, however, not yet admitted Sarnaik’s motion against Shobhaa De. A breach of privilege motion can be moved by MLAs and MPs against people who they think are guilty of contempt against the state legislature.

The Mumbai police have provided De with security by posting constables outside her residence.

According to a PTI report,  Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna launched an attack on the columnist. “You have done great service to the Marathi land in which you were born. It is unfortunate for Maharashtra that such comments came from a Marathi woman,” an editorial in Saamna said.

Coming down heavily on the author, the editorial said, “Since you have termed the decision of the state government as dadagiri, let us tell you (Shobha)…Had Chhatrapati Shivaji, in his time, and Balasaheb Thackeray not done ‘dadagiri’, then your forefathers and her children would have been born in Pakistan and you would have been attending Page 3 parties in a burqa.”

“The comments that Shobha has made on Marathi culture and food amount to insulting the Marathi people. She has even insulted our culture,” the Sena said.

When asked about the editorial’s reference to Pakistan, the party clarified that the comments were made only to highlight the fight of Shivaji and Bal Thackeray “against the injustice” meted out to Marathi people.

Shobhaa De did not want to comment on the issue but said that this was not the first time that Shiv Sena was targetting her. “This is the third or fourth time the Shiv Sena-BJP has targeted me for my views. The Mumbai police have been exemplary and offered the best security possible. But why should it even come to this?”

Shobhaa De told TOI that the Maharashtra government should have consulted stakeholders before making screening of Marathi movies mandatory and had asked if the government is willing to give subsidy to multiplexes.

“They seem to think I’m letting them down in the fight for Marathi culture, which is far from true. I simply don’t live a parochial existence. I’m very proud of my Marathi identity , but this has nothing to do with what is fair or unfair, or what seems rational and reasonable. I have said on three national TV channels, multiplexes that were given extra FSI on the grounds that they screen Marathi films and have not done so should be punished. But that does not mean the government should issue a diktat on screening Marathi films during primetime without taking stakeholders in the industry into account. The diktat on Marathi films comes close on the heels of another controversial ban by the Maharashtra government. These are little red flags that citizens must pay attention to. Satire and humour are the only means left to citizens to voice their protest. I am a Mumbaikar. The future of my city matters to me.”