'I am so scared… please come…' They can block the film in India. Can they block the little girl's last words, ever?
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The blocking of the globally acclaimed The Voice of Hind Rajab in India represents more than just film censorship—it symbolizes India’s dramatic pivot from its historical support for Palestinian self-determination, to unconditional backing of US-Israel and the genocide in Gaza.
By American Kahani News Desk
India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has blocked the theatrical release of The Voice of Hind Rajab, a globally acclaimedOscar-nominated docudrama about a little Palestinian girl killed in Gaza by the Israeli forces, with a censor board member reportedly telling the distributor that releasing the film “would break up the India-Israel relationship”—a decision that highlights India’s controversial shift toward unconditional support for Israel under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to Variety, the Indian theatrical release of Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated feature, which was planned for this month, is being blocked by the country’s CBFC for political reasons, according to the film’s local distributor.
Distributor Manoj Nandwana, who heads Mumbai-based Jai Viratra Entertainment, said: “The film is very sensitive,” and he was told by a CBFC member that “if it gets released it would break up the India-Israel relationship.”
Nandwana told Variety that he screened The Voice of Hind Rajab for the CBFC in February, when he submitted the film for censorship approval, and was planning a March 6 Indian release “because we thought it was a good date ahead of the March 16 Oscars.”
The Film and Its Global Success
The Voice of Hind Rajab is an Oscar-nominated docudrama that reconstructs the tragic final hours of a young Palestinian girl killed during Israel’s invasion of Gaza, and genocide that followed for two years. Directed by acclaimed Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, the 2025 film blends real audio recordings and dramatized sequences to portray the desperate last phone calls to a helpline, by Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old girl trapped inside a bullet-ridden car with the dead bodies of her relatives, surrounded by armoured vehicles, after Israeli forces opened fire on her family in Gaza City.
As many as 355 bullets were pumped inside her body, even while the para medics who reached her were shot dead.
Her last words to the woman on the helpline: I am scared. Come and get me..”
According to Variety, in September, the film elicited more than 20 minutes of thunderous applause when it world premiered at the Venice Film Festival and then went on to win the fest’s Silver Lion.
While the film has played widely in Europe, North America, and the Middle East—grossing more than USD 5.6 million—it remains unavailable in India.
Pattern of Political Censorship
According to Variety, this is not the first recent instance of India’s CBFC blocking a release when they deem a film to be politically sensitive. Last year, they halted the release of Indian director Sandya Suri’s Oscar-shortlisted Santosh.
When Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza, India condemned the humanitarian crisis in the enclave but repeatedly abstained from UN resolutions which called for a ceasefire.
The Wire reported that as it has become a recent phenomenon with the Censor Board under chairperson and lyricist Prasoon Joshi, controversial films are either prescribed an unreasonable number of cuts (like it happened with Panjab ’95 and Santosh recently), or there is radio silence from the body for prolonged periods.
The Wire noted that last year’s Oscar winner, No Other Land, was pulled from the MAMI 2024 line-up at the last minute. More recently, at IFFK 2025, 19 films were not cleared for censor exemption, thereby preventing the screening of acclaimed films like All That’s Left of You (2025) and Once Upon a Time In Gaza (2025).
The Kerala state government defied the central government’s orders, and allowed the films to be screened.
India’s Controversial Position on Gaza
India’s position on the Gaza conflict has undergone a dramatic transformation under Modi’s government, moving from historical and consistent support for Palestine, to close alignment with Israel (and the US).
Modi’s visit to Israel on February 25-26 was described by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu as “extraordinarily productive.” During the visit, India and Israel elevated their current “strategic partnership” to a “special strategic partnership.”
Modi told the Israeli parliament: “India stands with Israel firmly, with full conviction, in this moment and beyond.”
Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges. He has been isolated across the world as a ‘war criminal’ and cannot visit several countries, including in Europe. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said that he will be arrested under international law if he visits New York.
Yet, this has not prevented Modi from shaking hands, embracing and publicly endorsing the Israeli leader. In his speech at the Knesset, Modi showed no sympathy for Palestinian suffering.
While expressing his “deepest condolences” for the Israeli lives lost in the Hamas’ “barbaric terrorist attack” on October 7, 2023, Modi was conspicuously silent on Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has killed over 73,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, in the last more than two years. Gaza has been ravaged, with hospitals, campuses, homes and schools totally destroyed.
Besides, the entire population was starved off food and humanitarian aid for months, while medicine and aid has been blocked. Around 300 journalists have been murdered.. Despite the so-called ceasefire, the killings continue, and so does the forcible expansion of settlements in the West Bank, by armed Israeli settlers backed by their government.
Before he landed in Tel Aviv, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said: "I hope that the Hon Prime Minister @narendramodi ji mentions the genocide of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza while addressing the Knesset on his upcoming trip to Israel and demands justice for them," she wrote on X.
Jairam Ramesh, a senior parliamentarian of the Congress, India’s main opposition party, said: “This Israel visit was shameful and it is even more so in light of the war that has been launched…” accusing Modi of “the highest moral cowardice” for not speaking up on Israel’s war on Gazans.
The Ideological Connection
According to Al Jazeera, one reason Modi, unlike previous Indian leaders, has displayed such warmth towards the Israeli prime minister is the Indian Hindu right’s enthusiasm for the ideology of Zionism. Modi’s BJP (BJP) has roots in a philosophy, Right-wing Hindutva, which ultimately seeks to transform India into a ‘one nation-one religion, one culture’ Hindu Rashtra – similar to Israel’s view of itself as a Jewish homeland.
According to France 24, when X briefly made users’ countries of origin public, several prominent pro-Israel accounts were found to be run from India. It was an unfortunate testament to the success of Hindutva forces in cultivating Islamophobia by presenting the liberation of Palestine as supposedly anti-Hindu.
India’s UN Voting Record on Gaza
India was one of the first countries to condemn the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian groups designated as terrorists. Three weeks after the attack, India abstained in the vote on UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/21 calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire because it did not explicitly condemn Hamas.
When Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza, India condemned the humanitarian crisis in the enclave, but repeatedly abstained from UN resolutions which called for a ceasefire. In 2024, India also abstained from a UN Human Rights Council resolution which called for an arms embargo on Israel.
Defense and Trade Ties
According to Al Jazeera, India is Israel’s largest arms buyer, spending $20.5bn on Israeli weapons between 2020 and 2024. In 2024, trade between the two, largely based on defense and security, stood at $3.9bn.
Before Modi’s trip to Israel, Indian outlets began reporting on a historic multi-year $10 billion defense deal between the two countries.
The blocking of The Voice of Hind Rajab represents more than just film censorship—it symbolizes India’s dramatic pivot from its historical support for Palestinian self-determination to unconditional backing of Israel and the genocide in Gaza.
Under Modi’s leadership, India has moved from its traditional position of non-alignment to what analysts describe as joining “the US-Israeli camp,” raising questions about India’s moral credibility in the Global South and its role as a voice for developing nations.
Courtesy americankahani.com