Sir: The film Verna has been banned by the federal censor board as well as the Punjab and Sindh federal boards. This is a completely pointless step, because in the age of the internet banning a film from releasing in cinemas doesn’t stop anyone from watching it. People will just watch it on the internet. People will also watch it on pirated DVD’s. Secondly, the government shouldn’t try to babysit the people in this manner. It only makes itself look bad. A confident state which is open to criticism gains the confidence of its people. An unconfident state has unconfident people. The censor boards should reverse their decision and let things be. A banned movie won’t stop people from criticising the government or discussing social issues. HASSAN ZAIDI Karachi Published in Daily Times, November 18th 2017.