KOZHIKODE: Expressing his solidarity to Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman and filmmaker Kamal
and coming down heavily against Sangh Parivar, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said that the Saffron Brigade's efforts were aimed at communalising the national anthem row.
Addressing a function here, Pinarayi said that Sangh Parivaar was behind the ongoing protest. “The protests are initiated on communal motives. There is a communal intolerance in the way the Sangh Parivar activists are labelling him as a Muslim anti-national. The protesters call him Kamaludheen (Kamal's full name) on clear motives of communal politics,” Pinarayi said.
Lashing out at the Sangh Parivar, he asked them not to try to give Kamal certificate of patriotism. “Kamal needs no certificate from Sangh Parivar,” he said.
The controversy has its origins immediately after the Supreme Court directive earlier this month making national anthem mandatory before every movie in cinema halls. The apex court's order which came during the International Film Festival of Kerala in Thiruvanthapuram, and KCA chairman Kamal had said he did not approve of the idea, triggering protests from Yuva Morcha, BJP’s youth wing.
The Yuva Morcha activists marched to the filmmaker's house in Kodungalloor near Thrissur and sang the national anthem to register their protest. Kamal hit back on the method adopted by Yuva Morcha saying this amounted to dishonouring the national anthem.