On Saturday, 1st April 2023, Kerala police booked 10 persons for depicting an allegedly Muslim terrorist in a state-level school festival’s inaugural performance. The case is registered regarding the program that took place on January 3, 2023.
During the opening ceremony of the five-day youth festival held in the school on January 3, the performing ensemble MATHA (Malayalam Theatrical Heritage and Arts) from Perambra performed the musical program. It showed the Indian Army capturing a man who was wearing a Keffiyeh, a traditional male Arab headwear. According to reports, Anoop VR, the director of the Rajiv Gandhi Study Circle, complained to the Nadakavu police in the Kozhikode district of Kerala and asked to register a case, but the police declined.
Anoop then went to the court. The Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court IV issued directives for filing a case under Section 153A of the IPC against the director of Matha Perambra and 10 other individuals. According to the instructions of a magistrate’s court, a case has been filed against 10 people, a senior police official has confirmed.
MATHA, a well-known performing group, dismissed the allegations, claiming that the purported representation of a person as an extremist wearing a Muslim costume was not intended and that they have no affiliation with any political organisation or ideology.
The welcome song during the function was performed when the Chief Minister and ministers were on stage. It was presented just before Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the annual event, which is widely considered to be the largest student cultural gathering in Asia.
The allegations were raised against the performers immediately after the event, but Kanakadas, director of MATHA Perambra, had said that the allegation that there was a Sangh Parivar agenda behind the welcome song of the 61st Kerala State School Kalolsavam is baseless. He added, “Minister Mohammed Riyas congratulated us after we staged the song titled ‘Drishya Vismayam’. The team had earlier staged the song in CPM’s district sessions as well.”
