Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, one of the 49 signatories in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday came up with the perfect response for BJP spokesman B Gopalakrishnan, who had suggested that the filmmaker shift to the moon if he did not want to hear slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
As the comments by B Gopalakrishnan kicked up a controversy, Adoor asked him for a ticket to the moon and a hotel room.
“I welcome the statement of the BJP leader who wants to send me to the moon. As a kid I was always enchanted by the moon. I hope the BJP leader books a ticket for me...it will be a nice trip, I may not return, but it will be a great trip," Adoor said.
On Tuesday, Adoor and 48 eminent personalities wrote to PM Modi, expressing concern over incidents of lynching and the alleged weaponisation of the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
Adoor said the letter, which was also signed by fellow filmmakers Aparna Sen and Mani Ratnam, and historian Ramachandra Guha among others, was neither against the government nor against those chanting 'Jai Sri Ram' but against incidents of lynching using the "chant as a war cry".
“Ram was a great king but his name is now being used as a war cry. We wrote that letter hoping to get a positive response from the PM," he said.
“We thought the letter will be taken in the right spirit but small-time leaders are making stupid statements about it," he added.
B Gopalakrishnan, BJP leader in Kerala, on Thursday hit out at the renowned auteur saying he was free to shift to the moon or any other planet if he was unable to tolerate those chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’.
In a Facebook post, the BJP leader said Adoor was a respected filmmaker, but he cannot "insult" the culture of the country. This being the Ramayana month, which is observed in Kerala from July 17 to August 16, people will chant 'Jai Sri Ram', he said.
"If you are not keen to hear it (Jai Sri Ram), please register your name at Sriharikota and you can go to the moon," he told Adoor in the sarcasm-laced post, adding it will be better if he changed his name.
Adoor said the 'attack' on the minority community does not fit in a democratic country like India and that was why they responded by writing the letter, adding that everyone had the right to live and violation of this right was wrong. He said they were not a group of people who were given a responsibility to respond to everything.
"None of us are politicians. All are into various fields. We just have democracy in front of us. Everyone has got their right to live. Violation of this Right is wrong. If the government fails to take action against this. It will cause unrest in the society. We will have to pay a huge price," he said.
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