It could be just plain xenophobia or a desperate bid to make their presence felt. Whatever the case might be, the diktat by as many as nine separatist rebel groups in India’s northeast calling for a ban on the screening of Hindi films in theatres across the region from November 15 on the ground that they are too racy and can ‘corrupt’ the indigenous culture is seen as a move to wean away the people further from the country’s mainstream.

“Hindi films are part of an ugly Indian media campaign of cultural aggression, endangering the very survival of the unique cultural identity of the indigenous people. The erotic song and dance items are a bad influence on young minds,” B. Erakdao, publicity chief of the outlawed rebel group in Assam, the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), said in a statement. Erakdao signed the statement, received by this writer, on behalf of his group as well as the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). These two outfits are part of the nine insurgent outfits calling for the ban.

Insurgent groups with cadres drawn from the majority Meitei community in Manipur had clamped a ban on screening of Hindi films in the state in 2001 itself. Most theatre owners across the Imphal Valley have carried out the rebels’ directive by not screening Bollywood movies. Not surprisingly, this directive by the rebel groups has met with opposition from some of the otherwise equally xenophobic, but mainstream youth organizations in Assam and elsewhere. The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP)â€â€