India's Film and Television Producers Guild has asked the seven Indian stateswhich have banned the The Da Vinci Codeto reconsider their decision.

The guild has written to thegovernments of the seven out of 29 states that have either banned or suspendedthe film, specifying how it was cleared by the censor board and asking thatthey help to clear its release.

The Indian states that havebanned the film include Mizoram, Goa, Nagaland, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Megahalaya and Kerala, the state with the largestChristian population.

The ban comes despite thefilm being cleared for viewing throughout India with a disclaimer that it is a work of fiction. Thefilm was released on May 26 in English, Tamil and Malayalam versions one weekafter its global release.

The government of India cleared the film only after Information andBroadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi viewed it with representatives ofChristian groups to get their views.

Meanwhile the ChristianFront Punjab (CFP) has demanded a nation-wide ban on the screening of The Da Vinci Code, saying that anti-Catholicgroups were behind a "deep conspiracy" to defame the community through thecontroversial movie.

"The government shouldrealise the gravity of the situation and impose a complete ban on itsscreening, failing which Christians will launch a country-wide agitation," saidCFP president Lawrance Chaudhry. He also pointed out that Pakistan had banned the film.

Christians make up twopercent of Hindu-majority India's one-billion plus population.