THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Day one of the 11th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, organised by the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy was enriched with the presence of Kavitha Lankesh, film-maker and sister of slain journalist Gauri Lankesh. In a conversation with reporters, Lankesh said creative voices should never be threatened. Kavitha is one of the jury members in the fiction category of the fest.
“People are being brainwashed. They are made to believe that what they are doing is for their love of the country. The same led to Gauri Lankesh’s assassination. Fact and fiction are being mistaken for each other. Saffronisation and Hindutva are being enforced upon people. You raise a voice against this fascist extremism and you are under threat. And it happens everywhere in the country. The conditions are becoming worse with time,” said Kavitha. The film-maker pointed out that though her father, journalist P Lankesh, expressed his opinions, there was no threat against him.
“But today, the situation is different. Creative artistic voices are being repressed. Opinions are oppressed. My daughter tells me not to speak in public, because of fear that I will be targeted, because I voice my thoughts. We have reached a point where we need to provide protection for all the creative voices of filmmakers, politicians, journalists, and artists. Then who will be there for the security of the commoners?” Lankesh asked.
She feels freedom of speech and expression are being clinched away from citizens and that they are being misled in the name of ‘dharma’. She said, in Kerala, she feels at home and free to speak her mind. “Be fearless and express yourself. The youth are the stakeholders of the future, they are capable of bringing change in the current social scenario. Be true to oneself,” Lankesh added.