The bid by some youth Congress workers to disrupt film shooting to protest actor Joju George’s fallout with Congress workers at a public protest against fuel hike in Kochi last week figured in the Assembly on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the bid to browbeat artistes and disrupt cinema production as “fascist” without naming the party.
CPI(M) legislator and actor M. Mukesh had moved a submission, spotlighting Mr. George’s “ordeal” after protesting against the roadblock by Congress workers. “Threatening calls beset Mr. George. His children are afraid to go to school, and his aged parents and family are worried,” Mr. Mukesh said.
The anger against Mr. George had metastasised into an attempt to disrupt cinema shooting. Some persons had derailed the shooting of a Prithiviraj and Sreenivasan movie. The Malayalam cinema industry was struggling to survive the COVID-19 downturn, and the flailing industry could ill endure such production stoppages, he said.
Victims of trespasses
Mr. Mukesh said Mr. George was the latest victim of increasing trespasses against artists. Mr. George had protested a particular group from blocking roads.
He had highlighted the plight of a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy who was caught in the traffic pile-up. The group portrayed Mr. George as a drunk felon. When the charge did not stick, the protesters accused him of misbehaving towards women. The police found Mr. George innocent of both charges. But, the group wanted Mr. George to apologise for a wrong he had not done or face violent protests, Mr. Mukesh said
Mr. Vijayan said some people donning the garb of democracy behaved like fascists. “Kerala is not a fertile ground for fascism, and strong-arm measures would not pass the muster in the State. The Government would show no mercy to entities which violate the right to freedom of speech and expression,” Mr. Vijayan said.
He said the attack on Mr. George was not a one-off incident or the result of a personal spat between some people. It was a sign of intolerance, which no civil society could encourage.
“Nobody could arbitrate on what individuals should eat, wear or speak. Kerala swore by creative freedom and individual liberty. It will not allow anybody to take the law into their hands or bully dissenters,” he said.
