K. SatchidanandanKottayam: Expressing solidarity with Malayalam film-maker Kamal, who has been facing abuse from some BJP leaders in Kerala of late, eminent poet K. Satchidanandan said the attacks on the director were expressions of anti-democratic tendencies, on the rise in India.
Satchidananadan marked his protest against the attack on Kamal "by some self-styled patriots" in a statement he shared on Facebook.
He said the attack on Kamal was the expression of three anti-democratic tendencies, namely, intolerance against independent artists and dissenters, attack on minorities, especially Muslims, and hyper nationalism.
Read: Now, Kerala BJP leader asks veteran film director Kamal to leave country
"Those who label anyone with a Muslim name as terrorist and anti-national and ask them to go to Pakistan or Khabaristan, prove that the Hindutva extremists, who provoked a section of Muslims to demand partition of India once, want to divide the nation further. By calling Kamal who is not a rigidly religious person, Kamaludheen, his critics proved the rotten nature of their religious politics," Satchidanandan, a vocal critic of Hindutva forces, said.
Elaborating on hyper nationalism, the poet-critic said patriotism was being used as a weapon to punish those who dissent and nationalist symbols like the national flag and anthem has lost their meaning and become mere tools in the hands of the jingoists.
He said it was not Kamal but the protestors who sang the national anthem in front of the film-maker's house who had actually insulted it.
Satchidanandan's statement came after BJP state general secretary K.N. Radhakrishnan said Kamal could leave India if he can't abide by the rules of the country.
The veteran film-maker, who is also the chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, became a target of the Sangh Parivar outfits after he objected to rounding up of delegates who refused to stand up while the national anthem was being played inside theaters during the International Film Festival of Kerala last month.
