The 21st International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) has been caught in a controversy following the arrest of 11 persons, including a woman who failed to stand up when the national anthem was played before a screening on Monday evening.
Tagore Theatre, the main venue of the festival, witnessed protests by a group of film-makers and delegates against the arrests. The police action followed a complaint from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to State Police Chief Loknath Behra citing media reports that some festival delegates did not stand up for the anthem.
The protesters said all of them had utmost respect for the national anthem, but were against forcing people to stand up in cinema halls. They also questioned the logic of imposing the rule only in cinema halls.
“Nationalism is not something that should be forced down our throats. This is leading to a situation where people are being told what to think, what to eat and what to read,” said award-winning film-maker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, who was part of the protest.
The Supreme Court had last month ordered all cinema halls across the country to play the national anthem before the screening of films.
Following this order, an independent film society had filed a petition seeking an exemption for the IFFK from the scope of the court order, arguing that playing the anthem before every screening would create difficulties for delegates, including foreign film-makers.
However, the apex court ordered that the anthem must be played before every screening.
Though most of the delegates have complied with the order, a few marked their protest by sitting during the anthem.
The photographs of the same printed in some dailies led to the complaint to the State Police Chief.
“There are 490 screenings across 13 cinemas in this city over this week. Considering practicality, festivals like this should have been exempted from the order.
The protests are against the imposition, not against the anthem as such,” said a delegate, on condition of anonymity.
Announcements
The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the organisers of the IFFK, is now carrying announcements before every show asking delegates to follow the court order.
The reservations are cancelled if the delegate fail to reach the hall, five minutes before the show.
