Dalit activist Dinu Veyil has filed a complaint against filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan for portraying members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes as “criminals, thieves or prone to corruption”.
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Veyil, founder of the non-governmental organisation Dhisha Kerala, took to Facebook to inform that an official complaint was filed at the Thiruvananthapuram Museum Police Station and SC/ST Commission. As per the post, Veyil accused Gopalakrishnan of encouraging ill will.
“Portraying the SC/ST group as “Take the money and run” as taking away the money provided by the government schemes by SC/ST community links to dishonesty/IMMORALITY/corruption, thereby creating ill-will (dislike) against SC/ST community is likely to grow in the minds of others [sic],” he penned.
Veyil further labelled Gopalakrishnan’s comments as “intentional humiliation”. “Although not personally targeted, Adoor's statement insults the individuals who belong to the SC/ST category who were present in the platform, the people who belong to the ST category who applied for the present fund so far, and the people who belonged to the SC/ ST category who are watching this through social media and TV channels.”
The human rights advocate had earlier bashed Gopalakrishnan and questioned the filmmaker on the genuineness of his claims. “Under what data is it said that the money given to SC/ST will create a way for corruption?” He further called the filmmaker a “casteist”.
During the Kerala Policy Film Conclave held on Sunday, Gopalakrishnan took centre stage to comment that the ₹1.5 crore grant provided to SC/ST could pave the way for corruption. Though he appreciated the initiative, the filmmaker suggested that those receiving it must undergo three months of intensive training before making films.