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20 Arrested In 48 Hours For Failing To Stand For Anthem In Cinemas
NEW DELHI:
HIGHLIGHTS
The Supreme Court ruled on November 30 that cinemas should play the national anthem before every screening, and that the audience should stand, drawing angry accusations of an assault on civil liberties.
12 people were arrested on Monday at an international film festival in Kerala for failing to observe the order, the police said. They said the film-goers, who have not been identified, had refused to stand after being asked to do so by organisers and police. "They were formally arrested and later released on bail," said Sparjan Kumar, police chief of the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr Kumar 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 told news agency AFP. Mr Kumar said the 12 cinema-goers arrested in his state had been charged with various related offences, including contempt of court.
Before that, on Sunday, eight people were arrested at a cinema in Chennai after being assaulted by a group of 20 men during the interval for allegedly refusing to stand. They were reportedly charged under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and face up to three years in jail if found guilty.
The Supreme Court did not specify a penalty for failure to stand, or indicate who was to take charge of monitoring rule-breaking and assigning punishment.
Before the latest order, the playing of the national anthem was only compulsory in Maharashtra.
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/20-a...ailing-to-stand-for-anthem-in-cinemas-1637378
NEW DELHI — The police in southern India have arrested 12 moviegoers accused of failing to stand during the playing of the national anthem, something required in all of the country’s theaters after a November ruling by India’s Supreme Court.
Police officers in the city of Chennai on Sunday arrested a man, S. Viji, on suspicion of assault and violating the Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act of 1971.
If Viji, who was released on bail, is found to have violated the act, he could face a fine and imprisonment of up to three years.
Eleven more people were arrested Monday in Thiruvananthapuram, another southern city, after being accused of sitting when the national anthem was played during screenings at a film festival. All were arrested on suspicion of disobeying a court order and released on bail, said Sarjan Kumar, the police commissioner in Thiruvananthapuram.
“We have to see whether they did it intentionally or not,” he said.
The arrests were the first known efforts by the police to enforce compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, which requires movie theaters to play the national anthem before each screening. Patrons, according to the ruling, are required to stand respectfully for the duration of the song unless they are physically unable.
The court said it was necessary that “the citizens of the country realize that they live in a nation and are duty bound to show respect to the national anthem.” The Constitution, it continued, “does not allow any different notion, or the perception of individual rights.”
The ruling on standing for the national anthem, coming in a season of swelling nationalist pride in India, was greeted with enthusiasm by some Indians and derision by others.
The arrest in Chennai followed the decision by a group of people at a theater there to resist the order, said M. Sreela, a law student who was part of the group.
“That was our first movie after the Supreme Court order,” said Sreela, who, like many in India’s south, does not use a surname. “So some of us made a choice not to stand for the national anthem when it was played. So we did not stand up. At the time, nobody objected, not even a glance from anybody.”
During the intermission, she said, another patron grabbed a man in their group by the collar and confronted him about why he had not stood for the anthem. An exchange of insults inside the theater erupted later into a parking-lot brawl.
“They were not paying respect to the national anthem, disturbing others and taking selfies,” said Vijay Kumar, who filed a police complaint against the group that refused to stand. Mr. Kumar said that in the ensuing scuffle, his nose was injured.
“If you don’t respect the national anthem, that’s your business, but at least don’t obstruct others in doing so,” he said.
The police in Chennai said they arrested one man and were seeking two more. Parties on both sides of the brawl filed police complaints against the other, alleging harassment, threats and physical abuse.
Sreela said the group had set out to defy the Supreme Court’s demand, which she described as “a force-fed and micromanaged exhibition of nationalism.”
The dictate to stand for the playing of the anthem, she said in a statement, serves to “enable self-appointed ‘guardians’ of the law and vigilantes all over the country to more aggressively pursue moral policing on their own equal fellow citizens.”
The statement compared the requirement to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s condemnation of flag-burning, and it noted that patrons at the film festival in Thiruvananthapuram “will have to stand up to the anthem even if it is 40 or more times.”
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/1...failing-to-rise-for-anthem.html?_r=0&referer=
NEW DELHI:
HIGHLIGHTS
- Top Court ordered audience to stand during national anthem before films
- 12 arrested at a Kerala film festival for failing to observe order
- 8 arrested at Chennai theatre after being assaulted for refusing to stand
The Supreme Court ruled on November 30 that cinemas should play the national anthem before every screening, and that the audience should stand, drawing angry accusations of an assault on civil liberties.
12 people were arrested on Monday at an international film festival in Kerala for failing to observe the order, the police said. They said the film-goers, who have not been identified, had refused to stand after being asked to do so by organisers and police. "They were formally arrested and later released on bail," said Sparjan Kumar, police chief of the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr Kumar 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 told news agency AFP. Mr Kumar said the 12 cinema-goers arrested in his state had been charged with various related offences, including contempt of court.
Before that, on Sunday, eight people were arrested at a cinema in Chennai after being assaulted by a group of 20 men during the interval for allegedly refusing to stand. They were reportedly charged under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and face up to three years in jail if found guilty.
The Supreme Court did not specify a penalty for failure to stand, or indicate who was to take charge of monitoring rule-breaking and assigning punishment.
Before the latest order, the playing of the national anthem was only compulsory in Maharashtra.
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/20-a...ailing-to-stand-for-anthem-in-cinemas-1637378
NEW DELHI — The police in southern India have arrested 12 moviegoers accused of failing to stand during the playing of the national anthem, something required in all of the country’s theaters after a November ruling by India’s Supreme Court.
Police officers in the city of Chennai on Sunday arrested a man, S. Viji, on suspicion of assault and violating the Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act of 1971.
If Viji, who was released on bail, is found to have violated the act, he could face a fine and imprisonment of up to three years.
Eleven more people were arrested Monday in Thiruvananthapuram, another southern city, after being accused of sitting when the national anthem was played during screenings at a film festival. All were arrested on suspicion of disobeying a court order and released on bail, said Sarjan Kumar, the police commissioner in Thiruvananthapuram.
“We have to see whether they did it intentionally or not,” he said.
The arrests were the first known efforts by the police to enforce compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, which requires movie theaters to play the national anthem before each screening. Patrons, according to the ruling, are required to stand respectfully for the duration of the song unless they are physically unable.
The court said it was necessary that “the citizens of the country realize that they live in a nation and are duty bound to show respect to the national anthem.” The Constitution, it continued, “does not allow any different notion, or the perception of individual rights.”
The ruling on standing for the national anthem, coming in a season of swelling nationalist pride in India, was greeted with enthusiasm by some Indians and derision by others.
The arrest in Chennai followed the decision by a group of people at a theater there to resist the order, said M. Sreela, a law student who was part of the group.
“That was our first movie after the Supreme Court order,” said Sreela, who, like many in India’s south, does not use a surname. “So some of us made a choice not to stand for the national anthem when it was played. So we did not stand up. At the time, nobody objected, not even a glance from anybody.”
During the intermission, she said, another patron grabbed a man in their group by the collar and confronted him about why he had not stood for the anthem. An exchange of insults inside the theater erupted later into a parking-lot brawl.
“They were not paying respect to the national anthem, disturbing others and taking selfies,” said Vijay Kumar, who filed a police complaint against the group that refused to stand. Mr. Kumar said that in the ensuing scuffle, his nose was injured.
“If you don’t respect the national anthem, that’s your business, but at least don’t obstruct others in doing so,” he said.
The police in Chennai said they arrested one man and were seeking two more. Parties on both sides of the brawl filed police complaints against the other, alleging harassment, threats and physical abuse.
Sreela said the group had set out to defy the Supreme Court’s demand, which she described as “a force-fed and micromanaged exhibition of nationalism.”
The dictate to stand for the playing of the anthem, she said in a statement, serves to “enable self-appointed ‘guardians’ of the law and vigilantes all over the country to more aggressively pursue moral policing on their own equal fellow citizens.”
The statement compared the requirement to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s condemnation of flag-burning, and it noted that patrons at the film festival in Thiruvananthapuram “will have to stand up to the anthem even if it is 40 or more times.”
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/1...failing-to-rise-for-anthem.html?_r=0&referer=
Last edited:
They were booked under section 188 r/w of IPC for disobedience to the order duly promulgated by the public servant and were released on personal bonds. The Supreme Court had recently ordered that cinema halls in the country should play the national anthem before screening movies and the citizens barring people with disabilities should stand up for the anthem.
