Kochi | The Congress-led UDF on Thursday threw its weight behind the persons who wrote, composed and sang a parody of a popular devotional song dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, a day after police registered a case against the artiste behind it for allegedly "hurting religious feelings".
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan, termed the police action "an encroachment upon artistic freedom" and said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan "should bow his head in shame before Kerala" for this.
He said that a CM who "waxed eloquent" against the lack of clearance to some movies curated for the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), allowed the police to lodge the case against the artistes behind the parody.
"This kind of step is usually taken by extreme right wing organisations. This government is playing the same games and walking the same path as the Sangh Parivar. The CPI(M) is trying to give the issue a communal angle to provide a weapon to the non-secular forces in the state," Satheesan alleged at a press meet here.
He said that the Left was now looking at the caste and religion of the artistes behind the parody.
Satheesan announced that the UDF would legally and politically protect the artistes who wrote, composed the music of and sang the parody, which is "troubling the CPI(M) and the LDF government so much".
The opposition leader termed the police action a "black chapter of a Communist CM" in history and "how low the Left front has fallen".
He also contended that the recent defeat in the local body polls "has affected the mental balance of the Left front".
"We and everyone else are laughing at them over this. People are saying the song should be played everywhere. We intend to play the song at all our booths across the state," he said.
The parody makes references to the Sabarimala gold loss case and the alleged role of prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty in it.
A complaint against it was received by State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar on Tuesday and he had forwarded it to Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) H Venkatesh for necessary action.
The complaint was then sent to the cyber crime police station in Thiruvananthapuram, which on Wednesday registered an FIR under Sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the writer and singer of the parody.
Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan too slammed the police action and contended that as all the MPs from Kerala have sung the parody, they will have to be arrested and booked.
He said that if the CPI(M) intends to arrest people over the singing of the parody, "the jails in Kerala would not be sufficient" as till the Assembly elections are over, the Congress has decided to sing the song continuously everywhere.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said that neither the front nor the CPI(M) have taken any action on the song and the case was registered based on some complaints.
State General Education Minister V Sivankutty said that the LDF was in favour of protecting artistic freedom and it has never made any songs that make fun of Lord Ganapathy or Attukal Devi.
He said that Kerala has a space for parody songs, which are numerous, but they should not hurt a person or community.
The minister said it would be difficult to accept a parody that makes fun of the religious beliefs or idols of a particular community.
Satheesan, in his press meet, said that the parody does not hurt anyone's religious beliefs.
He claimed that the CPI(M) made parodies of the same devotional song in the past to make fun of former CM K Karunakaran and also IUML leaders who won in elections.
