The widening grip of intolerance

NThese days to revive the cultural landscape is similar to treating a minefield. It turns out that the most harmless creative expressions can become heated. Last week, in Kerala, in one film, from a character named Janaki to zumba dance performances, school students angered everything or the other. Religion is the common issue in most of these discussions.

What’s a name?

Central Film Certificate Board (CBFC) Regional Office Clean the Film Janaki V/S Kerala State The CBFC Center in Mumbai, starring Union Minister Suresh Gopi, asked Janaki’s name Janaki, another name for the title and the goddess Sita. They told filmmakers that the victim of sexual violence through informal channels could not be named after Sita. Producers of another film, Coin numberAfter objection to a character who had a relationship with a man named Ibrahim Ibrahim, he had to change the name of a character from Janaki to Jayanthi.

Considering such arbitrary directives, it will become impossible to use a common name for a film or a character. These examples show the tendency to undertake the duties of CBFC’s ‘Incinated Emotions’ group and expand the censorship scope. While the Kerala Supreme Court increases the CBFC, the film bodies in Kerala are in their arms against the body.

Questioning moral values

While these two discussions continued, the cheerful videos of school students of all ages dancing together in Zumba classes filled the social media timeline in the state. The Kerala government launched zumba sessions in schools and colleges as part of the efforts to reduce this academic year, stress and direct students’ interests and energy from drugs to positive alternatives.

However, even this made some of the people unhappy. Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama’s youth wing, the Islamic Organization and Sunni Yuvajana Sangham, including ultra -conservative Islamist groups, aerobic dance exercise practice as a “moral values” and a deterioration of Islamic religious values ​​against the plan. Some clergy, students in all videos on social media, even though wearing school uniforms, Zumba’yı’yı’yı’yı claimed that the students wore “missing clothes”.

Such an opposition against a relaxing training revealed the clergy’s fears about women’s hostility and confusion of genders. In the past, referring to religious reasons, some of these Islamic organizations opposed the government’s decision to bring a gender uniform in schools and to eliminate separate benches for girls and boys.

The decision of the left Democratic Front (LDF) government refused to withdraw the zumba plan. General Education Minister V. Sivankutty, the booth taken by these groups will only help the majority communalism, he said. In 2008, as the Minister of State Education, the CPI (M) Secretary General Ma Baby, who faced discussions on a rational course in a textbook, said that religious organizations could comment on education issues, but they could not dictate conditions.

Curiously, Sangh Parivar Thinking Corporal Bharatia Vichara Kendram criticized the state government for encouraging “foreign practices such as zumba. He claimed that the government’s agenda was next to Yoga instructors.

Beyond the cultural sphere, the campaigns of Orthodox Islamic groups against vaccination had terrible consequences. Two days ago, a one -year -old child died of jaundice in Malaappuram, after allegedly rejected vaccination and treatment. They also buried the child in mysterious conditions.

Worrying trend

In Kerala, there is an increasing number of fundamental sounds from different sides of the religious range. The narrow dictators beyond the limits of creative expressions and their understanding of religion do not increase a good increase for a state that is proud of its general progressive, secular appearance. The government and civil society have to return to all vitality to isolate such intolerable sounds.