Kerala academy condemns FIR against celebrities

Kerala State Chalachitra Academy has expressed protest over the filing of an FIR against film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and 49 other celebrities who had sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern over mob lynching. The academy said the move to book the film-makers and the cultural activists was a blatant violation of the freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution.

"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," the academy said in a press release here on Saturday. Also, the academy alleged the government was muzzling the voices of dissent and expressed solidarity with Adoor.

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..