Six held for national anthem insult at International Film Festival of Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Six delegates of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) were booked at a screening venue for allegedly disrespecting the national anthem by not standing up while it was being played on Monday. The incident took place at Nishagandhi auditorium before the screening of Egyptian film 'Clash' when the six, including three journalists and a woman hailing from different districts in Kerala, sat on the chair. Police officers who were present there picked them after some audience brought this to their notice.

They were taken to the Museum police station where they claimed that they were not ready to leave the seats which they had struggled to get after arriving late for the show. They were booked under section 188 r/w of IPC for disobedience to the order duly promulgated by the public servant and were released on personal bonds. The Supreme Court had recently ordered that cinema halls in the country should play the national anthem before screening movies and the citizens barring people with disabilities should stand up for the anthem.

The police action came after Yuva Morcha workers complained on Monday with pictorial evidence that several delegates refused to stand up during screening of movies at another IFFK venue at Tagore theatre. State police chief Loknath Behera had ordered Cantonment Assistant Commissioner of Police, K.E. Baiju, to keep a tab on such violations using plain-clothed police officers.Meanwhile, five more IFFK delegates including a woman has surrendered claiming they had sat down while national anthem was being played at Nishagandhi as a mark of protest. They were being interrogated at the time of going to print.