Mumbai: Over 180 members of the artistic community, including actor Naseeruddin Shah, cinematographer Anand Pradhan, historian Romila Thapar and activist Harsh Mander among others, condemned the FIR lodged against 49 celebrities for an open letter, they wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last week, an FIR was filed in Bihar's Muzaffarpur against personalities, including directors Aparna Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and writer-columnist Ramchandra Guha for alleged sedition over a letter they wrote to the PM in July, voicing concern over growing incidents of mob lynching.
In a new letter issued on Monday, October 7, the eminent personalities questioned how writing an open letter to the prime minister could be called "an act of sedition".
Hitting back at its critics for blaming the Modi government for the registration of a sedition case against 49 intellectuals and artists, the BJP on Tuesday said it was an "absolute falsehood" spread by vested interests and asserted that the development had nothing to with either the party or its dispensation at the Centre.