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‘We need to move urgently’: BJP's Amit Malviya on Vivek Agnihotri's legal notice to CM Mamata Banerjee
The West Bengal government has imposed a ban on 'The Kerala Story' citing "maintenance of peace" and to avoid incidents of "hatred and violence" in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday backed filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's move to send legal notice to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee over her remarks on ‘The Kashmir Files’ film, saying it was “much needed” to “restore some semblance of rule of law” in the state. BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya alleged that the chief minister is trampling on civil liberties and freedom of speech with impunity in West Bengal, in an apparent reference to the ban on the screening of “The Kerala Story.”
Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the controversial film 'The Kerala Story' and alleged at a news conference that 'The Kashmir Files' was made to humiliate one section of the society whereas director Sudipto Sen's film was aimed at defaming the southern state.
The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri sent a legal notice to Banerjee asking her to either substantiate the claims by producing authenticated proof or withdraw the statements by addressing the media in a similar manner and tendering unconditional apology. Agnihotri alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo made the statement “only to gain easy popularity among the so called seculars in the country, to coerce and prevent my clients from going ahead with the making of the movie 'The Delhi Files' and also to see that the Bengal genocide does not see the light of the day and to keep the public at large in dark on the said issue.”
“Such acts of you are illegal and are also not expected from a person occupying such high place in the society,” the lead notice read.
Reacting to Agnihotri's move, Malviya tweeted: “This was much needed. Mamata Banerjee is trampling on civil liberties and freedom of speech with impunity in West Bengal. People are getting assaulted for wanting to watch a movie. Filmmakers are being threatened and ascribed motives to. We need to move urgently to restore some semblance of rule of law in Bengal…”
‘The Kerala Story’, starring Adah Sharma, follows the story of a group of women from the southern state who converted to Islam and joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
