The government of Nepal banned the screening of Akshay Kumar-featured Bollywood film 'Chandni Chowk to China' in the nation over Lord Buddha's birthplace controversy. According to reports, the people of Nepal are protesting heavily over a reference in the movie which claimed that India was the birth palce of Lord Buddha. Speaking on the issue, spokesperson of the Information and Communications Ministry of Nepal said that although the Nepali film censorship has removed the controversial part from the film, but many people have already watched the unedited version on pirated CDs/DVDs.

 

The spokesperson said that the censor board of Nepal decided to ban 'Chandni Chowk to China' considering the popular sentiments of Nepalese. The demonstrators in Kathmandu opposed massively when the film was set for screening in theatres on Thursday (January 22). The protesters were demanding the government to ban the movie.

 

The film featuring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone has a voice-over which says Buddha was born in India. The people of the Himalayan nation who have watched the uncensored version of the film were enraged at that particular claim. The founder of Buddhism, Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini which is located about 171 km southwest of Kathmandu. Buddha later attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya situated in Bihar.