THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the state government was determined to protect artists and provide them with a safe environment to exercise their creativity free from threats.
Referring to the incident in which filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan was asked by a BJP leader to migrate to the moon, the CM said the very incident highlighted the uncultured nature of fascist forces and such remarks would be dismissed with the merit it deserved. He was inaugurating the 49th Kerala State Film Awards at Nishagandhi Auditorium here on Saturday.
“Adoor’s personality is Kerala’s contribution to India and the world. To threaten him is a cowardly act. Such remarks will not yield any result,” said Vijayan. While stating that intolerance towards Adoor has to be considered as a continuation of the threats received by ace film personalities like Dilip Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Anand Patwardhan, Deepa Mehta, Kamal Haasan and others, the Chief Minister alleged that fascist forces wanted to stamp out dissenting voices and those who questioned their acts.
Earlier, before giving away the awards to winners, the CM said that Malayalam cinema, which is celebrating 90 years, had played a stellar role in propelling the state’s cultural progress. “Cinema is considered to be a world of fantasy. But while doing so, our film industry always tried to keep its feet on the ground. It provided viewers with realistic aspects of societal concerns,” said Vijayan.