Lift ban! Screen films!

Indian authorities have told cinema owners in Manipur to defy a separatist rebel ban on the showing of Hindi films, state officials said today.

Rebels in the insurgency-hit state slapped an indefinite ban on Hindi films in September, citing fears that their local language and culture would be wiped out, police said.

"We have appealed to cinema hall owners and cable operators to start showing Hindi movies and programmes in the state immediately," said state chief minister W Nipamacha Singh.

"If they fail, the government will have to take the necessary action in this regard," Singh said. He did not elaborate.

State officials said there was no legislation on the statute books to enforce the showing of Hindi movies.

"We're not sure what action will follow," a government official told Reuters.

Rebels belonging to the Revolutionary People's Front, which imposed the ban, have destroyed up to 8,000 video and audio cassettes and compact discs of Hindi films and music, police said.

The rebels have been fighting for independence for the last three decades.

Cinema owners said they feared retribution from the rebels if they obeyed the government order to screen Hindi films.

"The government has put pressure on us to start showing Hindi films and programmes and... the militants have threatened us," a spokesman for the Cable Operators and Cinema Hall Owners Union said. He added that many cinemas had no option but to close because they have already shown all of the English and Manipur-language films they had.

"People in the entertainment business are bankrupt and over 10,000 people in the trade face an uncertain future," he said.

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