We need to have a universal approach in supporting those who criticise religion, documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan has said. He was addressing a protest meeting organised by the Federation of Film Societies of India at the venue of the 11th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), in support of writer S. Hareesh, who was forced to withdraw his novel Meesha (Moustache), which was being serialised in the Mathrubhumi weekly, following threats from Sangh Parviar outfits.
“If you approve of things that you like, and allow that, that is not a test of freedom of expression. If you don’t agree with something, that is when your true test comes whether you have freedom of expression in your country or not. Just as we have been fighting for Hareesh, we should have fought for Taslima Nasreen also. When there was an attack on her, we should have defended her and not pushed her into the hands of the BJP,” he said.
The filmmaker appealed to Hareesh not to withdraw his novel, telling him to take courage from the attacks.
“If the right wing is attacking you, that means you are doing something right. It is not acceptable that someone, especially living in a State like Kerala, has to stop writing in the face of threats” he said.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby said that we had to defend the freedom of expression of a writer or an artist, even when we were not in agreement with their work of art, as right to expression was the cardinal principle of a democracy. He said that he happened to read the so called objectionable part in Hareesh’s novel, but he did not find anything objectionable in it.
Changed times
“What would have happened if M.T. Vasudevan Nair were to make Nirmalyam today? We have to screen these old films again. The facebook post that I posted in support of Hareesh received many threats and abuses. We know that the revolver that took away the life of Gandhi is still in your hands. That revolver came from the land of Mussolini. But there are more people than you can finish off with your bullets, who will stand on the side of humanity,” said Mr. Baby.
Kavitha Lankesh, sister of slain journalist Gauri Lankesh, said that when her father P. Lankesh or U.R. Ananthamurthy wrote provocative pieces back in the day, there were differences of opinion, but no one threatened to kill them.
Rising intolerance
“In the past few years, the intolerance levels have simply gone up. Even Pansare’s daughter and my good friend Prakash Raj who began speaking against the Hindutva are now on the hit list. They said it is fringe elements that killed Gauri. But that’s no longer true. They are the majority,” she said.
Filmmaker Kamal said that Islamist fundamentalism was as dangerous as Hindutva fundamentalism, as was evident in the threats faced by writer Santosh Echikkanam for his story Biriyani.
The protest ended with poet Anwar Ali reciting a poem titled The Wind.