Bhatt and other film personalities are not surprised this has happened, though, and have filed a public interest petition in the Supreme Court against the manner in which Fire was yanked off cinema halls in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune.

``We have approached the chief justice directly,'' explains thespian Dilip Kumar, adding, ``It is the right of a creative person to put forth a thought that people might not concur with. But vandalism is not the right way to do it.''

Fellow petitioner Javed Akhtar adds, ``It is really unfortunate that the film has been sent back tothe censors despite the fact that it was not pulled off the theatres following a popular public reaction against it. In fact, by sending it back, the government has given credence to the act.''

The petition has been filed under Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (right to life and liberty).Further, Dilip Kumar lashed out at the ``lawlessness in our social lives''.

``There have been many events that have been cancelled, problems with painting exhibitions, singing of songs and printing of books,'' he adds.Bhatt continued along the same lines, talking about ``cultural emergency''. ``What the people need to combat is the feeling that dissent is not going to be allowed here.''

Meanwhile, noted Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan today said that the controversial film on lesbian relationship was not ``nice'' enough to be shown in cinemas but disapproved Shiv Sena's reaction to it.

``The theme of the film is not compatible to our society. It is alien to ourculture. It is not a nice film to be shown in picture houses,'' Khan told newsmen, when asked about his reaction to the protests against the film.

Asked about Deepa Mehta's statement that lesbianism was part of the Indian heritage, Khan said ``everyone knows that husband and wife share physical relations, but you do not show it in a naked manner on the screen.'' He, however, admitted that he had not seen the film and his reactions were based on ``press reports''.