Amol Palekar: Opposition accuses the government of "thinking the police" and "silencing dissent" | India News

NEW DELHI: Accusing the government of "controlling people's thinking", opposition parties on Sunday criticized the NGMA and the Ministry of Culture for failing to allow the actor-director Veteran Amol Palekar finished his speech as he began to criticize the ministry for removing the advisory committee from the gallery centers in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

A video available on social media allegedly showed Palekar criticizing the ministry at the inauguration of an exhibition in memory of the artist Prabhakar Barwe on February 8 for apparently removing the advisory committee . Although his speech remained incomplete due to interruptions, the full text has been circulating on social media for two days.

When he was contacted, the director general of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Adwaita Gadanayak, said that the NGMA advisory committees of Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi were not yet dissolved.

"Their mandates have come to an end recently and they are being pieced together.For the artists whose works were presented, it was no less than a wedding.C & # 39; is a big event in their life.This was not the right platform for him (Palekar) to raise such issues, "Gadanayak told PTI.

When asked if any action would be taken against those who interrupted Palekar's speech, he replied: "We will do something".

At the inauguration of the "Inside The Empty Box" exhibition in Mumbai Friday, Palekar said: "Many of you may be unaware that this retrospective will be the last exhibition decided by the advisory committee of local artists and not by some bureaucrat or a government agent with a program of maintaining the moral order or proliferation of certain arts corresponding to an ideological inclination. "

Although asked to stop, Palekar later mentioned that writer Nayantara Sahgal was recently invited to speak at the Marathi Literary Convention, but at the last minute the invitation had been removed because of what she was going to say. the situation around us. Do we create the same situation here? "

Expressing against the government, the head of Congress, Kapil Sibal, said that it was the "nightmare" promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the government "had deleted the right to express ".

"There is a lot going on in this country that has never happened before … Amol Palekar has not been allowed to speak in. In cases where big people are charged, CBI does not appeal. Institutions like CBI and ED are being destroyed All those who, in their opinion, are against them are NSA victims, sedition cases, notices of resignation I have never seen this kind environment … we will suffer all the consequences, "he said.

In a tweet, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, his party colleague, called the project an attempt to silence dissent. "Is India being redefined and are the institutional pillars of democracy trying to silence people's dissent?" he wrote on the mircoblogging site.

Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi party, said, "Why does the BJP want to control the thoughts and opinions of people and control what they eat, wear, say and do? 39, India monochrome and colorless.Tell Mr. Palekar to stop talking about the nervousness of the government ".

Sitaram Yechury, secretary general of the CPM, wrote on Twitter: "All democracy, our constitutional rights, lies in the freedom to criticize the government and its leaders.Nobody is above criticism. This behavior with Amol Palekar is undemocratic and very reprehensible. "

The industrial Anand Mahindra tweeted: "Even though Palekar's remarks were inappropriate for the occasion, he was not a rowdy, he was a guest speaker. 39; avoid controversy is that the Ministry of Culture specifies that it welcomes criticism and that the Indian culture celebrates freedom of expression ".