Row in Kerala as police stops traditional dance after judge takes offence to loud music
India Today
Kerala district judge Kalam Pasha, brother of retired Chief Justice, Kemal Pasha, stopped a Mohiniyattam performance by dancer Neena Prasad at a school near his house in Palakkad after he took offence to the sound of the loudspeakers. Activists have expressed outrage about this on social media.
In a controversial move, a judge in Kerala stopped a dancer from performing Mohiniyattam at a school in Palakkad. Mohiniyattam dancer Neena Prasad’s performance at a school came to an abrupt end after a judge residing nearby took offence to the sound of the loudspeakers.
Several activists and politicians from Kerala have taken to social media to express their unhappiness about the incident. Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, shared Neena's experience on his social media page and alleged that this is the plight of artists under communist rule.
The dancer, in a social media post, claimed that police interrupted her Mohiniyattam performance on Saturday evening based on a comment by district judge Kalam Pasha, who is a brother of retired Chief Justice Kemal Pasha.
Yet another example of Talibanization of Kerala under @vijayanpinarayiNo artistic freedom under communist ruleStopping Ms. Neena Prasad's Mohiniyattam performance - Kerala's own dance form abruptly - is an insult to Kerala. pic.twitter.com/zS7whLcZty
“The police said that we were creating a disturbance and ordered for the performance to be called off midway. We are a group of artists from across the state practising for a while before performing,” she said.
