Kerala's apex church body seeks ban on play for showing Christians in poor light

Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the state, has urged the state government to ban the staging of a Malayalam drama alleging that it portrayed Christianity along with its congregations and convents in a bad light.

A recent meeting of bishops and heads of various congregations, chaired by KCBC president Cardinal Baselios Cleemis here, condemned the play 'Kakkukali' and opined that its staging was a blot on the culture of Kerala.

A play based on the story of Malayalam writer Francis Noronha, Kakkukali revolves around a young nun and her struggles and challenges which she comes across in a convent.

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Alappuzha-based Neythal Nataka Sangham gave the story a stage adaptation under the direction of Job Madathil. In the meeting, the KCBC representatives said drama and literary works have the history of paving the way for reforms, transformations and social upliftment.

But glorifying works with highly derogatory content and distortion of history is unacceptable, the apex body said in a statement. It was "highly condemnable" that 'Kakkukali', which hurt the self-confidence and self-esteem of thousands of nuns and congregations who offer unique services to the society, has been included in the international drama festival of the state government and given huge publicity by the Left outfits, the statement further said.

The Catholic body also urged the cultural society to denounce the play and demanded the government to take immediate steps to ban its staging.

However, Job Madathil, the play's director, has rejected the criticisms and said the troupe would go ahead with its staging. "The drama was already staged in 15 venues and I did not understand why a protest suddenly broke out now," he said.