Stalin, Left, Kerala academy demand withdrawal of FIR against celebrities

The FIR against 50 celebrities who had sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern over mob lynching has come under strong criticism from various quarters, including DMK chief MK Stalin and the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

The Academy said the move to book the film-makers and cultural activists was a blatant violation of the freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution.

In a press release, the academy said, “Adoor Gopalakrishnan is someone who has always
upheld human values through his movies. The act of registering a case against those who had expressed concern over the growing action against humanity does not go well along with a civilised democratic society.”

Also, the academy alleged the government was muzzling the voices of dissent and expressed solidarity with Adoor.

An FIR was filed at Bihar’s Muzaffarpur on Thursday against around 50 celebrities, including Ramachandra Guha, Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Aparna Sen, who had written an open letter to Prime Minister Modi, raising their concern over the growing incidents of mob lynching in the country.

On Saturday, Stalin asked Modi to take steps to withdraw the FIR filed in Bihar against celebrities, “to protect democracy and basic features of the Constitution.”

Condemning the sedition charge against the celebrities, the leader of the opposition in Tamil Nadu said, “labelling them as anti-nationals” for writing an open letter to Modi, voicing concern over growing incidents of mob lynching, was “unacceptable.”

Also read: Rahul Gandhi hits out at Modi govt over FIR against celebs, unemployment

In a statement, Stalin asked, “How can seeking to uphold the basic tenets of the Constitution like tolerance and communal harmony be construed as anti-nationalism?”

The BJP government should realise that those who had taken up autocracy and clamped down on freedom of expression only faced defeat and it was evidenced by history, he said. Hence, realising such aspects, the Prime Minister should “take steps to immediately withdraw the sedition case against the celebrities and protect Indian democracy and the basic tenets of the Constitution,” the DMK chief said.

Similarly, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI (M), wrote one lakh letters to Modi on Saturday.

Also read: FIR against Mani Ratnam, Guha, others who wrote to Modi on mob lynching

CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Opposition leader in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and leaders of other political parties have also condemned the FIR and demanded immediate withdrawal of cases against the eminent personalities.

An FIR was filed at Muzaffarpur in Bihar on Thursday against nearly 50 eminent personalities, including Ramchandra Guha, Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Aparna Sen, who had written the open letter.

The case was filed after a chief judicial magistrate passed an order on a petition filed against the celebrities before court. The petition had claimed that the celebrities tarnished the image of the country and undermined the impressive performance of the Prime Minister besides allegedly supporting secessionist tendencies.

Adoor had on Friday expressed concern over the FIR saying it was allegedly undemocratic and would create doubts on the law and order situation in the country.

(With inputs from agencies)