Those who asked film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan to go to the moon are unaware of the culture of debate existent in the country for long, Assembly Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan has said.
He was here on Sunday to release the book Sabarimala Orarthavanubhavam, authored by mediaperson K.G. Jyothirghosh.
The Speaker was referring to the response of BJP leader B. Gopalakrishnan to a letter written by a group of cultural activists raising concern about the increasing incidence of violence in the name of religion. The film-maker was told that he was free to “go to the moon” if he was unable to tolerate the chanting of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Mr. Sreeramakrishnan said that Mr. Gopalakrishnan, however, responded decently to the BJP leader’s indecent remarks.
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“Some people believe as well as try to propagate that our culture had only a destructive dimension,” Mr. Sreeramakrishnan said. He pointed out that the Indian epics, however, were replete with instances of debate between people who disagree with each other.
“Our country’s culture is a storehouse of debates of various types. We can interpret the epics and the characters in them according to our reading and convictions. They are not someone’s private property,” he said.
Some people had been claiming that some books had hurt their sentiments and culture. “They are ignorant of our culture. India will not wither away like that,” Mr. Sreeramakrishnan said.
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The Speaker said that the culture of debate and the freedom to dissent was the essence of democracy as well. “I don’t agree with many of the points discussed in Mr. Jyothirghosh’s book on the Sabarimala issue. I think the government may not be able to approach the issue from a subjective or personal point of view. However, I am here to express my dissent,” Mr. Sreeramakrishnan added.
M.K. Muneer, MLA, and M.G. Radhakrishnan, editor-in-chief, Asianet News, were present.