Akali Dal stalling Udta Punjab Release?

According to the reports in the Times of India, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley promised some very radical changes in the Central Board of Film Certification. He said that the changes will be announced over the next few days.

Bollywood's upcoming movie Udta Punjab portrays the problem of drug addiction in the Indian state of Punjab. The censor board wants to chop out several scenes and dialogues from the movie. The film makers have protested against the Censor Board alleging that some politicians involved in the drug racket in Punjab are putting pressure on the censor board. Udta Punjab which in English means "Punjab on a High" is an upcoming Bollywood movie starring Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt & Diljit Dosanjh. The film has been produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Aman Gill, Vikas Bahl & Sameer Nair and will be distributed by Balaji Motion Pictures.

The  Central Board of Film Certification states that Udta Punjab, a drug-themed Bollywood movie which is due to be released June 17, needs several cuts on the ground that it casts the state of Punjab in a bad light by giving an impression that most of the people living in Punjab are drug addicts.

According to a report on Youthkiawaaz, 70% of the jail inmates across the state of Punjab are drug addicts. According to report, Drugs are sold openly outside the Civil Hospitals in Amritsar and Tarn Taran, two majorly affected districts of Punjab. Shockingly, some drugs are easily available in all the medical stores near various schools and colleges in the state. As a matter of fact, people there made a mockery of the situation by asserting that – “In Punjab, it’s easier to fetch drugs than water".

The Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal refuses to acknowledge the fact that Punjab has the highest number of drug addicts in India.

According to Youthkiawaaz, every drug addict raised their voice against the Akalis (BJP Ally in Punjab), and the Badal family in particular, for the rise of drug addiction in the state, over the past decade. The report further adds that several big names, mainly of the representatives of renowned political parties, largely from the Akalis and some from BJP have come into light which are said to be involved in this drug mafia.

According to a report in IndiaToday in 2014, Wrestler-turned-drug peddler Jagdish Singh Bhola's had claimed that Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia was also involved in the multi- crore drug trafficking racket. Though Majithia, brother-in-law of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, has denied the allegations    

According to NewsX, The Badals in Punjab said that explicit languages had been used in the film by Punjabis.  They also alleged that Punjabis were referred as "B******s" in the movie and were shown in bad or negative light in the film.