Film release blocked.

IN his life, Saadat Hasan Manto continually faced charges of obscenity for his short stories. This led him to declare: 'If you cannot bear these stories then the society is unbearable. Who am I to remove the clothes of this society, which itself is naked. I don't even try to cover it, because it is not my job, that's the job of dressmakers.' Decades later, the 'dressmakers' continue to find new reasons to cloak uncomfortable truths. Filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat experienced the spectacle first-hand, with the commotion created around the release of his film Zindagi Tamasha Hai. Despite being cleared by various censor boards that are known for being 'strict', the growing pressure from religious hardliners - based on assumptions they formed while watching a minute-long trailer - led to an unspecified delay in its release date. Members of the TLP called for protest rallies against the film, leading to the governments of Sindh and Punjab blocking its release. Meanwhile, Mr Khoosat felt compelled to clarify that he was a 'believer' like the protesters after he began receiving...