Border row on in UK

London: The film Border continues to cause controversy and ill-feelings between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the United Kingdom.

Following a fire at the Belle Vue Cinema, Leeds, during the showing of the film, damage to the cinema was minimal but 600 people had to be evacuated. Police said they are treating the fire as arson.

Border which deals with the Indo-Pak War of 1971 sparked off a controversy when more than 250 Muslim youths took out a procession in protest against the film in the northern UK city of Leeds. The march later developed into a riot when several police officers were injured in incidents of stone and bottle throwing. Few Muslim youths were arrested and charged with public order offences.

To avoid any further incidents Muslim leaders have urged the community to remain calm. They have also agreed to attend a special screening of the film arranged by its local distributors, Eros International, to judge for themselves whether or not the film is offensive to the Muslim community. The Muslim leaders have agre-ed to the conciliatory gestures on the condition that any scene that they find offensive will be edited. The film enters its fourth week's run at several London cinemas without any reports of further incidents.

... and in Pakistan

Karachi: For the first time video dealers of Pakistan have unanimously decided not to release J P Dutta's hit film Border which is based on the 1971 conflict between Pakistan and India. Because, they feel, it is "anti Pakistan and anti-Muslim."

A prominent video dealer (who did not want to be named) told this reporter: "At a time when the prime ministers of both the countries are trying their best to improve relationship between the two countries, they should not have made a film on such a sensitive topic. In the late '60s, a local producer had also made a film Qasam Us Waqt Ki on the 1965 war between the two countries, but following the Simla Agreement, all controversial scenes and songs including the name Indian Air Force written on war planes were removed to avoid any unpleasantness."