Noted film maker Anand Patwardhan, whose film War and Peace was on Wednesday jointly awarded the Swarna Kamal for the best non-feature film of 2003, has called for abolition of censor certificate requirement for films to enter film festivals and the national awards.

In a statement distributed to the media after the awards ceremony here at Vigyan Bhawan, Patwardhan also demanded that his film be telecast on Doordarshan so that a debate could start in society on what exactly constitutes national security — the underlying theme of the film.

Pointing out that he had to approach the Bombay High Court to get permission to screen War and Peace without cuts after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) refused to give it a certificate and that the film makers had to “fight” to make video films eligible to compete for national awards, Patwardhan said, “Our fight does not end here. The film making community wants to ensure that censor certificates are no longer required for national awards and film festivals.”

This year was the first time video films were allowed to compete for awards in the non-feature film section, and Patwardhan’s video film won the top award with Arvind Sinha’s Kaya Puchche Maya Se, which is in celluloid.

Ironically, War and Peace, a critique of nuclear weapons, was awarded the prize by President A P J Abdul Kalam, one of the architects of India’s nuclear policy. “This is an irony,” Patwardhan said, “but also a signifier of democracy.”

“Our next effort will be to get the film telecast on national television and encourage debate on what exactly constitutes national security, what is considered to be ‘good science’ and what constitutes patriotism — whether it is love for a piece of land that could well become radioactive for millions of years or love for the people who live and die on this land,” he said.