Pune: No subject taboo, say theatre competition's organisers

Facing a backlash, organisers of 'Firodiya Karandak', a popular inter-collegiate drama competition held in the city, announced on Friday that there would be no restrictions on choice of subjects. Participating colleges will need to obtain prior clearance for their scripts from the censor board, they said.

Earlier this week, the organizers released rules for the competition, which said that the plays must not touch on "sensitive" subjects such as Babri Masjid, Article 370, Hindu-Muslim relations or caste dynamics. It drew widespread criticism from theatre circles.

The competition is held in February every year. In a press release on Friday, the organisers said the objective behind banning certain subjects was that participants should avoid repetitiveness and tackle new themes instead of taking up subjects that can cause a rift in society.

"Unfortunately, the decision was wrongly interpreted," the release said, adding that the organizers did not want to curtail students' freedom of expression. Now the organisers were withdrawing the restrictions on subjects, the release said, adding that the participants will have to get prior permission for scripts from the theatre censor board..

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