After actor Vijay's Mersal which was released for Deepavali was slammed by the BJP for its criticism of the GST and Digital India, the Nadigar Sangam has come out in support of the film.
The BJP in Tamil Nadu has insisted that the scenes which show Vijay comparing the GST in Singapore to India and commenting on the healthcare in the two countries is factually incorrect. They have said that the scenes should be removed.
Condemning the incident, the Nadigar Sangam has issued a statement on Saturday which says that the dialogues and criticism which appear in the film are views that have been put forth by political organisations, media houses, online portals and social media users.
"If they have freedom of expression, don't the artists who work in the film industry and are in the same country have it?" the Sangam has asked.
Further, the Sangam has pointed out that once a film gets its certification, asking for some scenes to be removed or for the film to be banned makes freedom of expression a question mark.
The Sangam has strongly said that the Mersal scenes should not be removed at anyone's behest. "It is our view that such acts will create even bigger problems in future," the statement says.
Others from the film industry have also been posting their views on the issue.
By consolidating taxes,GST is making ppl aware of their https://t.co/c3b9RS4Tlw people will ask the govt for their due.What's wrong?#Mersal
— arvind swami (@thearvindswami) October 20, 2017
If there is no freedom of speech then dont call india a democratic nation anymore. Time for people to raise their voice #Mersal
— Vijay Sethupathi (@i_vijaysethu) October 21, 2017
Meanwhile, people haven't stopped trolling the BJP for its actions, especially the attempt to highlight Vijay's religion.
Dear @HRajaBJP, an old picture of #JosephVijay for your kind perusal.#Mersal #MersalVsModi pic.twitter.com/xhLh65spPJ
— Surendhar MK (@SurendharMK) October 21, 2017
not that the movie needs more promotions, but the producers of #Mersal should be thanking #BJP for free promotions in all news channels
— Dhaya Alagiri (@dhayaalagiri) October 21, 2017
The Producers' Council has also issued a similar statement, echoing the sentiments of the Nadigar Sangam.