india

Updated: Jul 25, 2019 22:11 IST

Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson B Gopalakrishnan on Thursday asked veteran film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan to go to the moon or some other planet if he did not want to hear “Jai Sri Ram” chants.

Interestingly, he is one of the 49 celebrities who rushed a joint appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressing concern over growing incidents of mob lynching and said of late “Jai Sri Ram” has turned into a “war cry.”

“People voted us to chant “Jai Sri Ram” and we will continue to do so. If necessary, we will chant it before Adoor’s house also. If he does not want to listen to this he can go to the moon or some other planet. He can also register his name in Sriharikota for this soon,” he said in a Facebook post condemning the intelligentsia for their “one-sided” views.

He said people like Adoor kept a stony silence when the state government declared Section 144 and hounded hundreds of Sabarimala devotees and a student was stabbed brutally by his fellow party workers on the campus of the prestigious University College in Thiruvananthpauram. He also ridiculed the film-maker saying it looks like a case of “sour grapes since he did not get any position from the Central Government.”

However, the director took it sportingly saying he was ready to go to the moon if he got a ticket. “BJP leaders want me to go to the moon because Pakistan must be filled by now. If there is a Chandrayaan 3, if they offer me a ticket I would be happy to grab it,” he said ridiculing the state BJP leader’s “intolerance.”

Earlier many leaders of the RSS-BJP had reportedly urged people who stood against their ideology to go to Pakistan. Besides Adoor, film-maker Shyam Benegal, veteran actor-film director Aparna Sen, writer Ramachandra Guha and singer Shubha Mudgal are some of the signatories of the letter. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and opposition Congress have condemned the BJP’s leader’s utterances against the acclaimed film-maker.

“Some BJP leaders dream that they can shut out people who oppose their ideology. But it will not happen in a state like Kerala which is a cradle of secularism and tolerance. All should condemn such cheap statements against a director adored by all,” said the CM.