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A BJP Leader Asked This Malayalam Director To Go To Moon. He Had The Perfect Response

Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's response involved space travel, as suggested by the BJP leader.
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Malayalam director Adoor Gopalakrishnan had an amusing response for a Kerala BJP leader who hit out at the auteur for signing a letter to the PM Modi against mob lynching.

BJP spokesman B Gopalakrishnan kicked up a controversy in Kerala on Thursday when he said the director was free to shift to the Moon or any other planet if he was unable to tolerate those chanting “Jai Sri Ram.”

“Buy me a ticket,” Adoor quipped on Friday.

Adoor was among the 49 filmmakers, actors and artists who wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, expressing concern that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ had become a war cry with many lynchings taking place.

In response to the outcry against the letter, Adoor later said their letter voicing concern was neither against the government nor against those chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’.

“In the letter we have mentioned that members of the minority community are being attacked by mobs for minor incidents and forced to chant Jai Sri Ram. I feel so sad about it. I am a devotee. It’s sad to see that Lord Ram, who is considered “mathruka purush” (model man), being insulted in such ways”, he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Adoor said the ‘attack’ on the minority community does not fit in a democratic country like India and that was why they responded by writing the letter, he said, adding that everyone had the right to live and violation of this right was wrong.

The filmmaker also said they were not a group of people who were given a responsibility to respond to everything.

“None of us are politicians. All are into various fields. We just have democracy in front of us. Everyone has got their right to live. Violation of this Right is wrong. If the government fails to take action against this. It will cause unrest in the society. We will have to pay a huge price”, he said.

Most of the accused in lynching cases go “scot-free” without facing any penal action and this might fuel more such incidents, the director said.

Most of them expect that they can escape on the pretext of a mob attack. All those who were part of such violent mob should be given capital punishment, he said.

“None of us have criticised anyone or said anything against the government. There is no need to see any of us as enemies”, he said.

In his Facebook post, the BJP leader had said Adoor was a respected filmmaker, but he could not ‘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 told Adoor in the sarcasm laced post, adding it will be better if he changed his name.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Malayalam film fraternity rallied behind Adoor and condemned the BJP leader’s comments.

Vijayan in a statement said: “None need think that they can oust those having a contrary opinion. There is no question of allowing any such moves.“

Noting that Adoor’s films brought international accolades to the state, he said the “sangh parivar threat” against the renowned film maker was not acceptable and should be condemned.

The cultural society should strongly defend any intolerant moves against such a person, he added.

Well-known director and Kerala Chalachitra Academy Chairman Kamal and award-winning filmmaker TV Chandran were among those who condemned the statement of the BJP leader.

Concerned at the number of “religious identity-based hate crimes” in the county, the group of eminent citizens had said in the letter that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has become a provocative war cry with many lynchings taking place in its name.

Celebrities from various fields, including Aparna Sen, vocalist Shubha Mudgal, historian Ramchandra Guha and sociologist Ashis Nandy, had signed the July 23 letter.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.