Malayalam actor Hareesh Peradi was asked not to attend an event organised by the Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham. Peradi received an invite, with his picture printed on it, to inaugurate the commemoration for A Santhakumar, a theatre artist. Peradi said that the organisers called him the day of the event to inform him that ‘it was better not to attend the event in the particular political circumstances’.
He took to social media and informed his fans about the incident. He shared pictures with Santhakumar and wrote (as translated), “If I am an obstacle in the meeting of your (Santhakumar’s) memories, the greatest love I can give you is to stay away from it.. That's why I stayed away ... This is not to blame anyone.. This is the truth.. Then I don't need any organization's freebies to remember you.”
Peradi told Manorama News, “At least three or four groups organise commemorative events of Santhan in Kozhikode and all of them had called me knowing well about the bonding I had with him. However, I decided to attend Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham's programme as they had invited me first. I reached my house at Ernakulam on Wednesday after taking leave from the shooting of a Tamil film in Coimbatore. On Thursday morning, I left for Kozhikode.”
"When I was midway I got a call from the organisers who told me it was better not to attend the event in the particular political circumstances. We are living at a time when a lot of fight is happening to protect the freedom of expression."Hareesh Peradi to Manorama News
He added, "Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham is also part of such struggles. When even they have to take such a stance I thought I should inform the public about it.”
When asked about the ‘political circumstances’ in question, Peradi said that it was the organisers responsibility to clarify that.
The Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham issued a clarification on Friday saying that Peradi attending their event would ‘send out the wrong message’.
According to the report in Manorama, the Sangham’s Kozhikode district secretary told media, “Peradi's reaction sounded like he was siding with the right-wing conspiracy (against the chief minister). If he attended the event, it would have sent out a wrong message.
There have been protests in Kerala amid the controversies surrounding the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling scam. Peradi had posted a picture of himself in a black mask and had called it his ‘protest against a fascist’ (in Malayalam).
Media had shared visuals of police removing black masks off people and escorting people in black clothes out of venues of events attended by the CM. The CM Pinarayi Vijayan had later clarified that there was no ban on black clothes and masks at this events.
(With inputs from Manorama and Indian Express)
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