MUMBAI: Even as the Aamir Khan's ŗ Idiots" movie has drawn criticisms from all around for instigating a ragging incident in a medical college, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has shied away from the controversy saying that it is the responsibility of the Censor Board to look into the matter.
Eighteen second and third year students of the Seth GS Medical College were expelled from their hostel at Naigaon in south-central Mumbai on Monday, a day after they were arrested for allegedly ragging 10 junior students on the hostel premises during the weekend.
The BJP protested outside theaters and also attempted to stop the screening of the movie, which they claimed had inspired the misconduct in the medical college. The movie has been a hit and made over 24 million rupees on the Box Office in the last 10 days.
"Films have always depicted social evils and created awareness about them in the society. The concerned department can watch the film and check for itself. Censor Board is there to take care of such issues," Chavan told journalists on Wednesday. However, he said that the students should be punished for their misconduct.
As a result of the incident, the Maharashtra government has decided to examine the movie's content.
"We will ask the movie's producer to submit its script as there are media reports that the Seth G S Medical College ragging incident was similar to the one shown in ŗ Idiots," Minister for Medical Education Vijaykumar Gavit told journalists here Wednesday.
"If anything objectionable is found in this regard, then we shall take appropriate action," he said.
Some of the students of Seth G S Medical College and KEM hospital who were arrested yesterday for ragging freshmen on New Year's Eve were medical interns.
Dr. Sanjay Oak, dean of the medical college, has said that the students have been expunged from the hostel. "They will also not be allowed to represent the medical college in any public forum. They will not be eligible for scholarships and free ships," he said.
The 18 students have been booked under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that include charges such as acts committed by several persons in furtherance of common intention, wrongful restraint, intentional insult, and penalty for ragging of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999. The arrested students were later released on bail.
