Political parties, film bodies demand withdrawal of sedition case against 49 celebrities

October 07, 2019 09:45

Political parties and film bodies 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 Communist Party of India-Marxist 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 CPI-M 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.

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