Will go to moon if given ticket, room: Adoor Gopalakrishnanon on BJP leader's jibe

Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan on Friday gave a witty reply to the BJP leader who asked him to go to the moon if he was unable to tolerate "Jai Sri Ram" chants. The director suggested that he is ready to go if provided with a room and a ticket.

"It is a good suggestion by this BJP friend that I should go to the moon, if he can book a room for me on the moon and buy me a ticket then it will be a nice stay," Gopalakrishnan told ANI

In a Facebook post, Kerala BJP leader B Gopalakrishnan said that the filmmaker is a respected figure, but he cannot ''insult'' the culture of the country.

This being the Ramayana month, which is observed in Kerala from July 17 to August 16, people will chant ''Jai Sri Ram'', he said.

"If you are not keen to hear it (Jai Sri Ram), please register your name at Sriharikota and you can go to the moon", he added.

B Gopalakrishnan made this controversial statement after Adoor along with 48 celebrities had written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over incidents of lynching in the country.

In the letter dated July 23, the celebrities have said that "exemplary punishment" should be meted out "swiftly and surely" in such cases.

"The lynching of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities must be stopped immediately. We were shocked to learn from the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) reports that there have been no less than 840 instances of atrocities against Dalits in the year 2016, and a definite decline in the percentage of convictions," the letter read.

In a reply to the letter, 62 personalities, including Kangana Ranaut and CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi, today signed an open letter calling the outrage selective.