DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION Disquiet in film board: ‘Censorship raj’, no meeting in 6 years, no reports, term lapsed `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 DEMAND FOR INCLUSION OF LADAKH IN SIXTH SCHEDULE 4killedinpolicefiringinLehas statehoodprotestturnsviolent Over 50 injured, BJP office torched in violence ahead of talks with Govt Centre: Bid to sabotage talks, mob was incited by Wangchuk BASHAARAT MASOOD EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE FOUR PERSONS were killed and at least 50 injured in Leh Wednesdayaspoliceopenedfire after protesters, demanding statehoodandseekingextension of Sixth Schedule protections to Ladakh, turned violent. The BJP office in Leh was also torched. Following the violence, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike for the past 35 days in support of Ladakh’s demands, called off his fast. The Leh administration has restricted the assembly of four HOURS AFTER the violence and police firing in Leh Wednesday, theCentre saidthe“mob was incited” by activist Sonam Wangchuk’s “provocative statements”.Itsaid“certainpolitically motivated individuals were not happy with the progress” in the ongoing talks between the representatives of the government and Ladakh groups, and “have been trying to sabotage the dialogue process”. In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs, while urging people not to circulate “old and SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 24 India’s 2026 Oscar entry Homebound and Vivek Agnihotri’s The Bengal Files (right). Both faced the board’s cuts Turbulence over Oscar-bound Homebound; I&B Ministry says CBFC functions as per rules, online smooth JAY MAZOOMDAAR NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 24 LATE LAST week, India nominated the globally acclaimed Homebound, which lists legendary American filmmaker Martin Scorsese as an executive producer, as its official entry for Oscars 2026. Behind the curtains, the announcement marked another twist in the movie's turbulent journey within its own country — marred by a series of cuts that appeared to rattle the film's makers so much they omitted Scorsese's name from the first set of posters before restoring it CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE ON CBFC’S CHOPPING BOARD: CASTE, MYTHOLOGY, POLITICS — AND PUNJAB PAGE 11 in later versions. For three years, a film on Punjab’s days of militancy, Punjab ’95, starring global star Diljit Dosanjh is in deep freeze after the director put his foot down to the board’s demand for over 100 cuts. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 24 People gather outside the BJP office building after it was set ablaze by protesters in Leh Wednesday. PTI EXPLAINED,P16 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Futuristic design out, Ayodhya mosque to have a traditional look MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER 24 THE DESIGN of the mosque that will be built in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur will be traditional, said the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust (IICF). Revising its earlier planned modern design, the Trust is The proposed design preparing to submit a new layout and map for the mosque before the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) in the next three months. IICF hopes this will also meet the challenge of donations for the project. The government gave five acres for construction of the mosque following the Supreme CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Goyal: India’s energy security goals to have ‘very high’ US element ‘Expect to increase trade with US on energy products in the coming years’ RAVI DUTTA MISHRA & SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 24 AMID EFFORTS to reach a trade deal with the US, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday that India is a large importer of energy and that its energy security goals will have a “very high element” of US involvement in the years to come. Expressing interest in small modular reactor (SMR) innovations in the US, Goyal said both countries will also continue to work together in the nuclear energy sector going forward. Indian trade negotiators, led by Goyal, are in the US to bring trade negotiations back on track Piyush Goyal at an event in New York. PTI after a team of officials from the Office of the United States Trade Representative visited India on September 16. “The world recognises that energy is one area where we all have to work together. India is a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow