Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday spoke tough gainst the sudden outbreak of protests against film shooting and actors, warning of strong action against anyone taking the law into their hands.
Raising in the Assembly the recent incident of actor Joju George whose car was vandalised during a protest by the Youth Congress workers against rising fuel prices at Kochi, actor turned CPI-M legislator Mukesh wanted the state to intervene as the actor’s children are unable to go to school and they are being harassed.
Also last week, there were reports of angry Congress workers protesting against film shooting and this was widely condemned by the film industry.
Among those actors who faced ire of Congress workers included Prithviraj, and Sreenivasan as their shooting was held up by the protesters to vent their anger against a section of the film industry.
Responding to Mukesh, Vijayan asserted that these sort of attacks will not be tolerated and very strong action will be there against any who break the rule of law.
“Forceful stopping of film shooting is not just an act against creative expression, but a violation of a fundamental right of an individual. Such acts will under no circumstances be tolerated, irrespective of from where it comes. Very strong action would be there and am sure this will be welcomed by the civil society as that has been our culture. Our land is not a fertile ground for such acts and people who try to practise it,” he said.
Top Congress leaders including state party President K. Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan have also spoken tough and said such acts by anyone in the party will not be tolerated.
The relationship between the Congress and the a section in the film industry who are known Left sympathisers have for some time being going through uneasy times and it suddenly turned for the worse, with the Joju George incident.
