Kolkata: Political slugfest started in West Bengal soon after the Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the ban on screening of ‘The Kerala Story’ in the state that was imposed by the Mamata government on May 8.
Trinamool Congress state general secretary and the party spokesman in West Bengal, Kunal Ghosh said that after the verdict of the apex court of the country the state government does not have any responsibility in the matter. “The state government took the precautionary step to prevent possible tension over the screening of the story. But after the lifting of the ban, the state government does not have any further responsibility,” Ghosh said.
State commerce & industries minister Dr Sashi Panja stated that the chief minister will now decide on the next course of action. “Every chief minister has the right to make decisions which he or she thinks are good for the society,” she said.
Actor-turned-politician and state BJP leader Rudranil Ghosh said that the verdict of the Supreme Court should be an eye-opener for the West Bengal government and it should refrain from taking similar “undemocratic” decisions in the matter.
“Nowhere in India there had been reports of tension or violence over the screening of ‘The Kerala Story’. Even no tension was witnessed in West Bengal in the four days the move was screened. The decision to ban the screening of the movie was a reflection of the ruling party’s appeasement politics,” he said.
Senior state BJP leader and the former national secretary of the party, Rahul Sinha said that being reprimanded by the court of late has become regular with the state’s ruling party. “Better they take lessons from the successive court orders going against them,” Sinha said.
Senior CPI(M) leader Tanmay Bhattacharya said that he agrees that ‘The Kerala Story’ is a propaganda movie full of distortion of fact.
“The motive was directed towards the Left Front government in Kerala. We criticized the contents of the movie but our government in Kerala did not ban the screening of the movie there. This is because we do not believe in banning any work of art. The West Bengal government banned its screening with a political motive,” he said.
(IANS)
