Empuraan row: Kerala MPs walk out over rejection of adjournment motion

New Delhi: Left parties' MP's from Kerala staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday following Chairman's rejection of the adjournment motion tabled by Kerala KP's John Brittas in the house. The motion, moved under Rule 267of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, demanded a discussion on the controversy surrounding the film 'Empuraan'.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected the notice for a discussion. Following this, the MP's sought at least half a minute for them to explain their demand. When that was also denied, the three MP's led by CPI's house party leader, P Santhosh Kumar including Dr John Brittas and AA Rahim made a walk-out in protest.

Kerala MPs John Brittas and Hibi Eden had earlier moved adjournment motions in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, respectively, over the burning ‘Empuraan’ row.

In the notice for adjournment motion, Brittas pointed out that freedom of expression is being suppressed in India while fundamental rights are being violated.

Hibi Eden pointed out that the Sangh Parivar is waging a hate campaign against Empuran and that they are the ones who decide what the people want to see in the country. The film exposes the reality of the Gujarat riots and the Sangh Parivar's agenda to seize power by creating sectarianism in Kerala, he said and added that the BJP-Sangh Parivar move against freedom of expression cannot be allowed.

Earlier, when the Sangh Parivar continued its hate campaign against the film Empuran, MP John Brittas had come out in support of the film. He said that it is a great honour when an ideology and an administrative system that holds total power rise up against a film. About 2,000 Muslims were massacred in Gujarat, and no one can say that they all died of flu, John Brittas said in a Facebook post, adding that it is a dark chapter in Indian history.

Meanwhile, ‘L2: Empuraan’ has entered the 200 crore club amid controversies. Actor Mohanlal and director Prithviraj revealed the feat on Facebook, which the movie gained within 5 days of opening.

However, with Sangh Parivar intensifying the hate campaign against the movie, the edited version of the film will hit the theatres in the coming days with 17 new cuts. The name of the main villain, ‘Baba Bajrangi’, will be changed, while the names of 18 places were changed and redubbed. The scenes where a pregnant woman is raped by rioters will be removed. Some scenes relating to the Gujarat riots will also removed.

Further, the NIA logo is to be removed, and the scene where the villain character says that he will be the Union Home Minister is also to be removed.