Objectionable scenes in film 'Sarkar' cut, TN govt thanks crew
Chennai, Nov 9: The issue over actor Vijay's Tamil film 'Sarkar' blew over Friday with its producers voluntarily cutting scenes, including an apparent reference to late chief minister J Jayalalithaa and criticism of welfare schemes initiated by her, and the AIADMK government welcoming it.
A day after the movie faced a backlash from AIADMK over the 'objectionable' scenes and reference, prompting the makers to agree for the cuts, Information and Publicity Minister Kadambur C Raju welcomed it and said the "issue has come to an end" and AIADMK would not stage any more protests against it.
His cabinet colleague R B Udhayakumar thanked the film producers for respecting "the sentiments of Tamil people" and urged movie-makers to exercise restraint in future.
Earlier in the day, Tamil 'Superstar' Rajinikanth threw his weight behind Vijay, questioning the AIADMK's rationale in protesting against a film certified by the censor board.
After several ministers objected to the reference to Jayalalithaa and some scenes, including the one showing mixers and grinders being burnt, AIADMK workers Thursday protested in front of several theatres screening the film, released on Deepavali day on November 6.
In a related legal development, the Madras High Court Friday restrained the police from arresting the film's director A R Murugadoss till November 27.
Passing interim orders on the anticipatory bail application filed by Murugadoss, who apprehended arrest in connection with some complaints lodged against him, Justice G K Ilanthirayan directed him to co-operate with the police and adjourned the matter to November 27.
Murugadoss's counsel informed the court that the objectionable portions had already been removed from the film.
According to Tamil film industry sources, "relevant scenes" in 'Sarkar' have been removed and the theatres will now start screening the 'edited' version.
They added the cuts in the digital copies of the film for all theatres can be made online from Chennai itself.
The cuts affected were 'voluntary' with the approval of the Central Board of Film Certification, they said.
"While we don't know how many scenes have been deleted, we can say for sure that the objectionable scene on mixer and grinder being burnt has been removed," they said.
Also, the audio part mentioning the name Komalavalli, deemed to be a reference to Jayalalithaa, will be 'muted,' they said.
The removal of the scenes prompted Raju to declare that the "issue has come to an end" and that the AIADMK would not hold anymore protests.
"We believe they (Sarkar team) have realised that they have hurt people's sentiments and have come forward to remove the scenes... it is welcome. So the issue has come to an end.
The protests (against the film) will not continue," he told reporters here.
Defending the protests, Raju said AIADMK workers "ranging from an ordinary cadre to the Chief Minister (K Palaniswami)," consider Jayalalithaa as their 'God'.
"We have nothing to do with the film or Vijay," Raju said describing the star as a "dear friend."
He said the party's opposition had nothing to do with criticism of the government.
A name said to be referring to Jayalalithaa was used for a negative character and therefore the opposition to it was "wholehearted" from the party workers, he added.
Revenue Minister Udayakumar thanked the 'Sarkar' crew for removing the scenes.
"In future, filmmakers should avoid including scenes that would hurt the sentiments, especially relating to Amma's (Jayalalithaa's) sacrifices and hard work," he said.
Fans of "dear brother Vijay" also benefited from government welfare schemes like the free mixer-grinder and fan initiative, he told reporters in Madurai.
Meanwhile, Rajinikanth "strongly condemned" the demands for deletion of the scenes.
"It is against the law to hold protests seeking removal of some scenes from a Censor board certified film and trying to stall the screening and damaging the banners," he tweeted.
On Thursday, the AIADMK was up in arms against 'Sarkar' with senior state ministers demanding deletion of the contentious scenes, besides threatening to initiate legal action if the film crew failed to comply.
Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam had said certain scenes amounted to inciting violence and warned of 'action'.
The AIADMK took strong exception to scenes showing mixer-grinder and fans being burnt, seen as an obvious affront to its flagship scheme of providing these goods free of cost to people, fulfilling an electoral promise made by Jayalalithaa in 2011.
'Sarkar' had earlier courted a row after an aspiring filmmaker claimed that the film's story was his, following which director Murugadoss went in for a compromise with him.
Produced by Sun Pictures, the film stars Vijay and Keerthi Suresh in key roles with Oscar winner A R Rahman scoring the music.
Vijay's 2017 film 'Mersal' too had ran into a controversy after BJP objected to some scenes critical of GST among others.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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