Political parties, film bodies demand withdrawal of sedition case against celebs

More political parties and film bodies on Sunday demanded the withdrawal of the controversial sedition case filed against 49 celebrities after they had expressed concern over rising incidents of mob lynching in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The CPI(M) and the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy joined the DMK, the Congress and others in condemning the filing of the case against celebrities like Aparna Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ramchandra Guha, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap and Revathi.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said this reflects the "growing authoritarianism" in the country. "This is tantamount to punishing all those who have a dissenting opinion on the policies of the present government. This is a complete negation of democratic rights and reflects the growing authoritarianism in the country," the Left party said.

The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy called it a "blatant violation" of the freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution.

The case ...