Kerala police has lodged a case against several persons in connection with a controversial cultural programme staged during the inauguration of the state school youth festival in Kozhikode early this year.
A senior police officer of the district confirmed that a case has been lodged against 10 persons on the complaint of one Anoop VR against the controversial programme which had allegedly depicted Muslims as extremists.
"The case was lodged on the directions of a magisterial court," the officer said.
Anoop had moved the court after a case was not initially registered on his complaint by the police.
The issue had snowballed into a political controversy with opposition Congress demanding an apology from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Thereafter, General Education Minister V Sivankutty had instructed the Director of the Public Instructions (DPI) to probe the matter.
The programme was presented by performance group MATHA Perambra on January 3 during the inaugural ceremony of the five-day youth festival in Kozhikode .
It became controversial after a section of people charged that it portrayed the Muslim community as extremists.
It kicked up a political storm with the CPI(M) reiterating that the party and its government would never take a stand against any particular religious community or faith, while the Congress said the Left government and the Chief Minister should bear moral responsibility towards the event conducted as part of the state-run youth festival.
Tourism Minister P A Mohammed Riyas had also said there were attempts in the country to portray a particular community as extremists and the alleged association, if any, of the person in charge of that particular programme with the Sangh Parivar needs to be investigated.
On the other hand, BJP state chief K Surendran had criticised the Left government over its decision to ban the performance group from further such events, saying it was a "surrender to religious extremists".
A group of artists are being banned by the Left government which always waxes eloquent about the freedom of expression but unfortunately writers and intellectuals were not ready to question this, he had said.
Perambra-based MATHA, a well-known performance group which performed the cultural programme, rejected the charges and had said that the alleged depiction of a person as extremist with Muslim outfit was not "intentional" and they have no connection with any particular political party or ideology.
The controversial musical programme depicted the Indian Army apprehending a man sporting a Keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headgear worn by men.
Sources claimed that when the dance was performed before the screening committee, it was done without the costume.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had condemned the depiction of the minority community in bad light during the musical programme.
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