The detention of 11 delegates to the 21st International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram who were arrested on Monday for not standing up while the National Anthem was being played in a movie hall, triggered intense protests on Tuesday but the State Government and the police said that legal action could not be avoided if disrespect was shown to the anthem in the context of the recent Supreme Court order in this regard.
The Museum Police in Thiruvananthapuram had detained 11 delegates on Monday evening for not standing up while the National Anthem was being played prior to the screening of a festival movie at the Nishagandhi auditorium. Veiled protests had come up even earlier against the apex court order which made standing up compulsory while the Anthem was being played.
On Tuesday, delegates and film buffs protested outside the main IFFK venues holding placards which said the National Anthem was not a trading commodity to be sold in movie halls. The placards also said that playing the National Anthem in movie halls was equivalent to selling it at shopping malls. “I respect the Anthem. It is my national asset. But I don’t know how appropriate it is to presume that one is not proud about it,” said a protestor.
Indicating that the festival organising committee would be forced to take some hard decisions regarding the conduct of the event if the police detained delegates from the halls where movies were being screened, filmmaker Kamal, chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy which organised the fest, said, “Any such action would cause serious difficulties as far as we are concerned.”
Kamal said that there was nothing wrong in standing up while the Anthem was being played but it was unfortunate that the entire audience should stand up during the each film screening in the IFFK in which up to 20 films could be screened on a single day. He said the academy did not want plainclothes policemen to keep vigil in movie halls.
However, State Director General of Police loknath Behera said there was no decision to deploy police inside the movie halls where festival films were being screened but the police would take legal action if people did not stand up while the Anthem was being played. The police had to do so in the context of the Supreme Court directive, he said.
Rejecting filmmaker Kamal’s stand that Monday’s police action was unwarranted, State Culture and law Minister AK Balan, a member of the CPI(M) central committee, said that the Government was duty-bound to implement the apex court order and that every citizen had the duty to stand up while the National Anthem was being played.
According to Kerala’s CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, those who do not want to stand up while the National Anthem is being played should not go to movie halls. It was improper to make National Anthem an emotional issue but some were doing exactly that, he said, adding it was the duty of the Government to ensure that the apex court order was implemented.
“We all love and respect our National Anthem but there are protocols associated with it with respect to where, when and how it should be sung. About 200 films are being screened in the IFFK and I can’t understand the logic behind the stipulation that the Anthem should be played before each screening,” said a leftist intellectual in Thiruvananthapuram.