Protesting the sedition case against 49 Indian celebrities, including Kerala icons like filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and actor-director Revathy Asha, the members of Students Federation of India (SFI) are planning to write letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bihar police on Wednesday had filed an FIR against the 49 celebrities who'd written an open letter to PM Modi, raising concerns over the increasing incidents of communal violence in the country. The letter, written in July 2019, was signed by celebrities including Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, Revathy Asha, Ramchandra Guha, Konkona Sensharma and Kani Kusruti. The celebrities have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including sedition, public nuisance, hurting religious feelings and insulting with intent to provoke breach of peace.
Condemning the act, the SFI on Friday announced that its members across the state will write letters to Narendra Modi. “Right to dissent is the safeguard of democracy,” the SFI stated while condemning the incident.
“It's condemnable that the signatories of the letter, who expressed concern about the increasing mob lynchings and propagation of communal hatred, have been booked by an FIR,” the statement put out by the SFI states.
“While the right to dissent is the safeguard of democracy, the government has tried to suppress even the smallest voice of opposition. We cannot agree to the move of the government to wipe off freedom of expression and independent thought,” the SFI added.
The organisation also alleged that through the amendments brought in to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Centre is trying to put those who criticise the RSS behind bars. “The wiping off of democracy and fundamental rights through anti-constitutional laws cannot be tolerated,” it said.
The SFI also raised demands that the case against Adoor Gopalakrishnan and other cultural activists, should be withdrawn at once. “Strong protests should rise up against the move to suppress democratic rights of the citizens. SFI members across Kerala will write letters to Modi to protest against this. We also call all the students to be part of this protest to safeguard our democratic rights,” the SFI said in the statement.
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