Thiruvananthapuram: Hitting out at renowned auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan and others for raising their voices against violence in the name of religion, a BJP leader in Kerala on Thursday said the former was free to shift to the moon or any other planet if he was unable to tolerate those chanting “Jai Sri Ram”.
Meanwhile, Adoor clarified that their letter voicing concern was neither against the government nor against those chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’ but against incidents of lynching using the “chant as a war cry”.
According to reports, the BJP spokesperson B Gopalakrishnan kicked up a controversy with his Facebook post in which he told Adoor “If you are not keen to hear it (Jai Sri Ram), please register your name at Sriharikota and you can go to the moon.”
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Malayalam film fraternity rallied behind Adoor and condemned BJP leader’s comments.
It must be noted that 49 eminent citizens, including Adoor, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ had become a war cry with many lynchings taking place.
In the letter they mentioned that members of the minority community are being attacked by mobs for minor incidents and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram. Adoor said being a devotee he felt so sad that Lord Ram, who is considered “mathruka purush” (model man), is being insulted in such ways.
Adoor said the ‘attack’ on the minority community does not fit in a democratic country like India hence they showed their concern by writing the letter. He added that everyone had the right to live and violation of this right was wrong.
The renowned director pointed out that most of the accused in lynching cases go “scot-free” without facing any penal action and this might fuel more such incidents. He advocated for capital punishment to those who were part of such violent mob.
Claiming that none of them have criticised anyone or said anything against the government, Adoor said there is no need to see any of them as enemies.