Kerala: Malayalam writer Kamalsy Prana arrested for insulting national anthem in his recent novel

Kamal C Chavara, Malayalam writer and theatre activist, was arrested by Kerala Police on Sunday for disrespecting the national anthem in a Facebook comment. 

The police arrested Chavara, alias Kamalsy Prana, from Kozhikode after a worker belonging to BJP's Yuva Morcha filed an FIR two days ago at the Karunagappally Police Station in the state's Kollam district. The writer and theatre artiste has been booked under IPC Section 124A (pertaining to sedition).

Inspector M Anil Kumar of Karunagappally Police told the Indian Express that prima facie Prana could be charged with sedition but "whether the charges would stay, we can say only after investigation." He added that a police team has been sent to Kozhikode to question Prana.

"His views have been under the scanner in the past too. But for now he is being questioned for his controversial post on the national anthem on Facebook. He has been booked for sedition," the District Police Chief of Kollam Sateesh Bino told NDTV.

Prana had posted a few lines from his recent Malayalam novel Smamashanangalude Notepusthakam on Facebook. The lines narrated a situation in which teachers of a school do not allow students to go to the washroom during class. The students sing the national anthem after the class gets over. The excerpt highlights that singing the national anthem meant that students could now go to the washroom.

Prana's arrest comes after 12 delegates of the International Film Festival of Kerala were arrested by the police for not standing up when the national anthem was being played.

The writer slammed the FIR against him and said that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should not turn into a "Kerala Modi". He added that the case against him was "illegal" and that the police were "depicting me as a terrorist."

"I had mentioned in my novel what schoolchildren do when the national anthem is being sung. Dubbing comments in the novel, disrespect to the national anthem, police have slapped the sedition charge against me," Prana said.