After ‘Brahminical hegemony’, ‘Islamophobia’ charge at Kerala school event: Govt bans arts group

The 61st edition of the five-day Kerala School Arts Festival began on January 3. Reckoned to be the biggest such event in Kerala’s cultural calendar, the festival was held after two years because of Covid. It first hit the headlines last week over a debate on “Brahminical dominance” when several people pointed out that only vegetarian fare was served at the event because caterer Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboothiri, who has been winning the contract to make the food at the festival for the last 16 years, is a Brahmin.

The event has now run into controversy after various Muslim organisations protested against the portrayal of a Muslim as a terrorist. During a show put up by MATHA on the first day, an Indian Army man was shown detaining a terrorist who had killed a uniformed defence official. The terrorist in the show wore the keffiyeh, a traditional headdress of Arab men.

Various Muslim organisations, including Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), deplored the show, saying that the government was using the festival venue to foment Islamophobia.

After the festival came to a close, CPI(M) leader and Public Works Minister Mohammed Riyas alleged that there was a Sangh Parivar agenda behind the show. CPI(M) district committee in Kozhikode on Tuesday said the criticism against the stage show was very serious and sought action. “Presenting a terrorist in Muslim attire is against the stand of the LDF government. Terrorism and extremism are not related to any particular community. It has to be examined how such a show was staged,’’ the party said in a statement.

Following the district committee’s intervention, the state education department banned MATHA from future editions of the festival.

But the Congress came down heavily on the CPI(M)-led government and said the CM should apologise to Muslims. Senior Congress leader and MP K Muraleedharan alleged that the Education Minister was present at the festival and the Tourism Minister had given a lead to everything. “So, how did such a depiction happen during the cultural event held during the festival conducted by the government? The government and the CM have a moral responsibility. The chief minister should apologise to the minority community in the state and that is the Congress’s stand on the issue.”

State BJP president K Surendran hit out at the CPI(M), saying that the ruling party claims to stand for freedom of expression but gave in to religious extremists. “The government has proved that it is with fundamentalists,” he said. “The stage show was depicting the selfless service of the Indian defence forces. Now, V Sivankutty and Mohammed Riyas say that depicting the service of the Indian Army was a crime. It is a sheer anti-national approach.”

MATHA’s art director Kanakadas said the controversy was unfortunate. “There was no politics behind the show and our artists belong to all political parties. We presented shows for several government events. After the stage show at the school festival, Minister Riyas congratulated us. Then, nobody raised any complaints against the show,’’ he said.

MATHA, based in Perambra in Kozhikode, has been staging dance and musical shows for the last three decades. The theatre movement has around 200-odd artists working on stage and off stage. MATHA has won accolades for a show based on Tamil epic Silappathikaram. They have also conducted numerous shows at several government events and for government agencies in Kerala and across India. The group has also performed in West Asia several times.