Padmavati protests sign of intolerance: Yechury

November 18, 2017 08:04

CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury today came out in defence of upcoming Bollywood film "Padamavati" and said the protests against the film, before watching it, were a "sign of intolerance" in the country.

The controversial film, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is scheduled to be released on December 1.

"It is shameful that we are witnessing protests over a film. Nobody knows what is there in the film. Without the certificate of the censor board, no one can even release the trailer and we are seeing protests demanding a ban on the film," the Left leader said.

"The protesters are demanding that the film should banned. Who are they to decide what is history and what is not? This is a sign of intolerance," he added.

Yechury likened the protesters to the private armies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

"The way Hitler and Mussolini had engaged their private armies of black shirts and brown shirts, these private armies (protesters) are functioning in the same way," he said.

Stating that the country was witnessing "moral policing", the Left leader said, "The people of this country are being dictated as regards what they should eat, what they should wear. Who are these gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes)? They are killing people and the police are filing cases against those who are being attacked. This is nothing but signs of fascism through communal polarisation."

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