Activists of Njattuvela Cultural Forum on Saturday said they would brave the denial of permission by the police to use loudspeaker for the ‘Pattum Porattavum’ (Songs and Resistance) event organised by the collective in memory of the late Jamaican musician and songwriter Bob Marley.
The event will be held with some modifications, the organisers said.
A note shared by a member of the group said the Mattancherry Assistant Commissioner of Police had denied permission to use loudspeaker for the event slated to be inaugurated by theatre-film personality Suveeran on Sunday.
They said eminent personalities such as writer Meena Kandasamy, poet K. Satchidanandan, theatre personality P.M. Antony, writer Charu Nivedita, and journalist Gouri Lankesh, who was shot dead by bigots, had all taken part in the previous editions of the event organised on the Fort Kochi beach since 2009.
Njattuvela organisers alleged that the denial of permission showed that the so-called Leftist government was actually implementing the agenda of the Sangh Parivar which brooked no criticism of Hindutva fascism.
The Hindu has learnt that permission was denied to the programme after the local station said there could be law and order issues.
