A day after the police arrested six delegates of the 21st International Film Festival of Kerala on Monday for not standing up while the national anthem was being played before movie screenings, the usual banter at the annual mega-event in Thiruvananthapuram gave way to peaceful protests.
The arrests followed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s November 30 order directing cinemas across the country to play the national anthem before a film is screened to express “love for the motherland”.
On December 9, the opening day of the festival, the court turned down a plea by the organisers to exempt the event from the scope of its order. “If there are 40 movies running in different shows, you will have to, well, stand 40 times,” said the judges.
The festival is spread across 14 cinema halls. It ends on Friday.
On Monday, five men and a woman who had attended the screening of an Egyptian film were arrested for “showing disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant” and “for a criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention”. They were released on bail on Monday night.
According to personnel at the Museum police station in the state capital, the six people were arrested following a complaint from members of the Bharathiya Janatha Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A case under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act was not filed since the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, the organisers of the festival, did not file a complaint.
Peaceful protests
On Tuesday, activists, film directors, and film aficionados holding posters and wearing printed badges shouted slogans against the arrests at one of the festival venues.
Many delegates said that they had stood for the national anthem before each screening out of fear of victimisation by the state, and not out of conviction. Some protesters said that those arrested did not show disrespect to the national anthem – they were just too tired to stand up.
The arrests sparked a debate over the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front government’s inability to rein in the state police, and seem to have put tremendous pressure on the government. The dilemma faced by the ruling coalition was evident when AK Balan, a senior member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and minister responsible for law and culture, was forced to defend the arrests.
Speaking in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, he said that citizens should respect the national anthem and national flag at a time when the country was facing internal and external threats.
“It is high time we inculcated patriotism among citizens of the country,” said Balan. “We should not allow them to disrespect national symbols.”
At the same time, he sounded a warning, adding that patriotism could not be inculcated mechanically. “The police should be very careful while dealing with the issue,” he said.
Badge protest
J Devika, a delegate and associate professor at the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, criticised the organisers for allowing the police to arrest the delegates.
“Those six persons did not disrupt the national anthem nor create any unruly scenes,” she said. “We should realise that sitting while the national anthem is being played is not a crime. The State is trying to impose nationalism on the people.”
In a post on the website kafila.online, Devika had asked festival delegates to protest at all festival venues by wearing a printed badge that says: “Dear Supreme Court, No Love Can Be Forced.”
Devika said that her call for the badge protest was intended to ensure that all delegates participated.
“Wearing a badge and standing up while playing the national anthem will allow those who are afraid of state action to protest,” she said. “It will send out a message that we are standing up due to pressure from the government.”
She said that she hoped the protests would continue in the coming days too.
Award-winning Malayalam director, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, who was at the forefront of Tuesday’s protests, said that the arrests are a continuation of attempts by Hindutva forces to dictate terms. “It is a threat to our society,” he said. “The lack of protests will give the impression that the people will abide by any anti-people policies and rules.”
Sasidharan added: “Many think why can’t we stand up for just 54 seconds before the movies. What I would like to tell them is that they haven’t realised what the real threats are. It is time we educated gullible people on the threats posed by Hindutva forces.”
Meanwhile, filmmaker Kamal, the chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, assured delegates that the police would not enter the theatres any more.
“Monday’s arrest happened at Nishagandhi, an open-air auditorium,” he said. “They didn’t inform us about the arrests. The police haven’t entered any of the theatres so far, and will not enter in the coming days too. We have been playing the national anthem in all theatres as per instructions from the police.”