New Delhi: A film, 'The Lady of Heaven' released in UK on 3rd June. As soon as it was released, protests started all over the UK and due to this protest, theaters had to cancel the shows of the film. Indeed, theaters were concerned that the safety of their staff could be seriously threatened by these demonstrations. Critics have accused the film of being racist and blasphemy. Protests are taking place in Britain to ban the film completely, petitions are reaching the court.
Let us tell you that there has not only been a ruckus in Britain regarding this film, but Islamic countries like Pakistan, Egypt and Iran have also banned 'The Lady of Heaven'. Morocco's name has also been included in this list of countries. While first-time director Elai King has directed The Ladi of Heaven, the story is written by Shia cleric Sheikh Yasser Al Habib. The film begins with an Iraqi child. In the beginning of the film, it is told that the dreaded terrorist organization ISIS has captured Iraq. Terror has increased in the country and common people are being massacred. In one such terrorist attack, this child loses his mother. After the death of that child's mother, a woman adopts him. This woman narrates a story to give courage to the orphaned child, a 1400 year old story. This is the story of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet of Muslims, 'Mohammed'. From here the film moves simultaneously in two periods, one the terror of ISIS and the 1400 year old story of Fatima. The film depicts Fatima as the first victim of terrorism. Through the story of Fatima, this child is able to understand things like patience and suffering.
Why is there a ruckus over 'The Lady of Heaven'?
There are two main reasons for the uproar over 'The Lady of Heaven'. Firstly, the film is about Prophet Mohammed and his daughter Fatima, whose portraits are strictly prohibited in Islam. However, the filmmakers say that they did not sign any actors for Prophet and Fatima. These characters have been created with the help of in-camera and visual effects. Even Fatima's face is not shown in this film. But even after this, there are allegations of dividing Muslim communities on this film. Opponents argue that some characters from Islamic history have been compared with ISIS terrorists in the film. All these characters were from Sunni community and the person who wrote this film is a Shia cleric. This is also one of the reasons why Sunnis are furious over this film. Opponents say that history has been shown in its own way by distorting the film.
On this, the film's executive producer Malik says in an interview that we wanted to show Fatima's life and struggles on screen. He said that, we think that Fatima is an important figure in history. There is a lot to be learned from them on how you can combat things like fundamentalism and corruption. So we felt we should share Fatima's story with the world. Malik said that differences on issues related to religion have happened in the past also. As for tampering with history, we have not done anything extravagant with history. We spent almost a year on the pre-production of the film to put the right facts in front of the world. According to Malik, people are free to criticize the film and they can put forward their stand. But, these protests have crossed all limits.
Let us tell you that it is not that the whole of Britain is opposing this film. There are some Muslims here who do not want the film to be banned. At the same time, if we talk about the government's stand on this issue, then no official statement has come from their side on this whole controversy, but they have fired Imam Qari Asim. Qari was the UK government's Islamophobia advisor. He was appointed in 2019 to help the government define Islamophobia, and take steps to reduce the growing hatred towards Muslims. The government fired Imam Qari, saying he was supporting the ongoing protests against 'The Lady of Heaven'.
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