Kerala Police arrested 6 people on Monday night for not standing up during the national anthem
Highlights
- Anthem before all films, people must stand: Supreme Court
- 20 arrested for not standing since Sunday
- 12 arrested at Kerala film festival, 8 in Chennai
While Vinesh Kumar was watching an Egyptian movie on Monday night in Kerala, he was arrested, along with five others. "I cannot be forced to stand up or show my patriotism in one particular way", Mr Kumar, a 34-year-old journalist, told NDTV.
He is among 20 people who have been punished with arrest (all have been granted bail) for not standing during the playout of the national anthem in cinemas, made mandatory by the Supreme Court on November 30.
The order has been criticized as a case of over-reach by judges as well as an assault on civil liberties. The Supreme Court has not indicated who is responsible for ensuring its verdict is followed, or the penalty for sitting through the anthem.
On Monday night, in two separate incidents at the same international film festival in Thiruvanthapuram, 12 people were arrested after ignoring directions to stand by organisers and the police. The charges against them include defying the orders of a public servant.
Sparjan Kumar, police chief Thiruvananthapuram, said six of the 12 had been assaulted after refusing to stand, but that no charges would be brought against the attackers."We are yet to receive a complaint over the assault. There is no investigation in (that) incident," he said.
"We were getting to our chairs as the national anthem was playing at the film festival venue and by the time we settled down, the national anthem was over. The police questioned us and we gave them our reasons and the issue was over. But a little later, people from the Yuva Morcha (BJP youth wing) started creating a scene, and this time the police even caught on to my collar," claimed Mr Kumar.
At the police station, he said, "We were lectured about nationalism before being let off on bail. We have been taught these things right from school, but how can we be forced to act in a certain way and our nationalism measured that way?"
The previous night, on Sunday, eight people had been arrested in Chennai after being assaulted by a group of 20 men during the interval for allegedly refusing to stand.