Political parties, film bodies demand withdrawal of sedition case against celebs

More political parties and film bodies on Sunday demanded the withdrawal of the controversial sedition case filed against 49 celebrities after they had expressed concern over rising incidents of mob lynching in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The CPI(M) and the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy joined the DMK, the Congress and others in condemning the filing of the case against celebrities like Aparna Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ramchandra Guha, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap and Revathi.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said this reflects the "growing authoritarianism" in the country. "This is tantamount to punishing all those who have a dissenting opinion on the policies of the present government. This is a complete negation of democratic rights and reflects the growing authoritarianism in the country," the Left party said.

The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy called it a "blatant violation" of the freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution.

The case was registered after a chief judicial magistrate in Bihar's Muzaffarpur passed an order on a plea by a lawyer alleging that the celebrities had tarnished the image of the country through their open letter.

Asked about the case, Union minister Prakash Javadekar Saturday said the government has nothing to do with it. "An individual went to the court which has passed an order."
The filmmaker cited an incident where, he said, a woman and her followers were found shooting at Mahatma Gandhi's effigy on January 30. "None of them have been labelled as anti-nationals, with even some of them managing to become MPs."