Reacting to a ‘political threat’ issued to filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan by a Kerala BJP leader, who asked the veteran director to shift to the moon or any other planet if he was unable to tolerate those chanting “Jai Shri Ram,” N.K. Premachandran, MP, has said the comment clearly showed that the BJP is unable to accept any contrary view.
“We have come to a point that nobody is allowed to have a opinion which is not in line with the majority party. Those expressing views otherwise are harassed,” the RSP member said here on Saturday.
“We have raised the issue of mob-lynching and wanted to raise this particular issue in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
BJP spokesman B. Gopalakrishnan had kicked up a controversy earlier this week after 49 eminent citizens, including the filmmaker, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern that “Jai Shri Ram” had been ‘reduced to a provocative war cry’ with many lynchings taking place in its name.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan maintained that the letter was neither against the government nor against those chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, but against the increasing incidents of lynching using the “chant as a war cry.”
He said that in their letter the signatories had mentioned that members of minority communities were being attacked by mob for minor incidents and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.
“I feel sad about it. I am a devotee. It’s sad to see that Lord Ram, who is considered “mathruka purush” (model man), being insulted in such a way,” the filmmaker had said.
“If you are not keen to hear it (Jai Shri Ram), please register your name at Sriharikota and you can go to the moon,” the BJP spokesman in Kerala had said in a social media post directed at the acclaimed filmmaker.