LAHORE, Jan 25: The Pakistan Film Exhibitors’ Association has threatened to hold a series of strikes if the government doesn’t allow screening of Indian films. Sources said on Thursday all cinema owners told their chairman at a meeting that they were facing great difficulties in saving their cinema halls from closure. They said they hardly found the required number of movies to show, adding, what they got, were substandard and full of vulgarity. They said films released on Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha were full of obscenity and vulgarity.

The meeting asked the government to allow screening of Indian films. It said the association had also made efforts in the past to convince the government to allow Indian films but to no avail.

Association chairman Jehanzeb Baig told the meeting that a film delegation would meet President Pervez Musharraf soon to request him to allow Indian films in Pakistani cinemas. He said Indian films were being shown by cable operators in violation of the government instruction.

He said that he would visit Sindh and other provinces to convince cinema owners to join hands on the issue. He said if the government did not allow Indian films, the cinema owners would initially observe token strikes and close down cinema halls for a week.

The sources said that the federal government had shown its willingness to allow screening of Indian films. They said that the culture ministry might allow to screen Indian film Nazar that included Meera in the cast.

They said that screening of Indian films would be carried out under an arrangement between the two countries. They said a festival of Pakistani films was expected to take place in India this March. They said the festival would be organised at official level where certain Pakistani Urdu and Punjabi films would shown.

The meeting held at Gulistan Cinema was chaired by association chairman Jehanzaib Baig and attended by cinema owners from Gujrat, Jaranwala, Multan, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Jhang, Sargodha and Lahore.