DMK MP Kanimozhi on Sunday stated that India was heading towards a situation, where any comments other that 'Jai Sree Ram' would be construed as anti-nationalism. She further lashed out at the ruling AIADMK government for remaining a mute spectator, despite residents of Tamil Nadu too being booked for sedition, for their letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rising incidence of lynching in the country.
An FIR was filed on October 2 against 49 celebrities, including Director Mani Ratnam and actor Revathi, after they wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2019, expressing concern over communal violence in the country. According to PTI, the FIR has been filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including sedition, public nuisance, hurting religious feelings and insulting with an intent to provoke breach of peace.
"We are heading to a situation in our country where saying anything but 'Jai Sree Ram' is being considered at anti-national," Kanimozhi warned. "There are cases against people from Tamil Nadu. The government here in Tamil Nadu is not even commenting on the fact that a case of sedition has been filed against people for writing a letter to the Prime Minister," she added.
The case was filed after an order to the effect was passed on August 20 by Chief Judicial Magistrate Surya Kant Tiwari in regard to a petition by the advocate Sudhir Ojha.
Advocate Sudhir told PTI that the artists who had signed the open letter were all named as accused in the petition because they allegedly "tarnished the image of the country and undermined the impressive performance of the Prime Minister" besides "supporting secessionist tendencies"
DMK chief MK Stalin too had condemned the move to book the artists and said there was no greater danger than branding these individuals traitors. “History has witnessed those who take up authoritarianism be defeated before democracy. How is it sedition to request the prevalence of communal harmony and tolerance which form the basic tenets of the constitution? How horrible is this!” his statement read.
The letter, which had signatories including Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, actor and filmmaker Revathy Asha, historian and writer Ramchandra Guha, filmmaker and actor Konkona Sensharma, actor Kani Kusruti, noted concerns over increasing identity-based hate crimes and lynchings of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities in India.
The letter to the Prime Minister had stated that “Jai Shri Ram” had become a provocative war cry, and had appealed to Prime Minister Modi to stop the use of Ram in this manner.
The letter also questioned the action taken by the PM against the perpetrators of such hate crimes. “You have criticised such lynchings in Parliament Mr Prime Minister, but that is not enough! What action has actually been taken against the perpetrators?”
In response to this, 62 personalities from film, academia and other fields wrote a counter letter, which stated that the 49 signatories of the previous letter showed "selective concern and demonstrated a clear political bias and motive” and was an “attempt to foist a FALSE NARRATIVE”. Among these 62 celebrities were actor Kangana Ranaut, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Vivek Agnihotri.