Should We Be So Intolerant? Kerala High Court On Plea Against 'Antony' Movie For Depicting Gun Hidden In Bible
The Kerala High Court today agreed to view an allegedly objectionable part from the Malayalam Movie 'Antony'. The plea was moved since a scene in the movie depicts a gun hidden inside a Bible, which allegedly hurt religious sentiments of the Christian community.“if you want you can produce the video, I will see…the petitioner seeks additional time to produce additional evidence”,...
The Kerala High Court today agreed to view an allegedly objectionable part from the Malayalam Movie 'Antony'. The plea was moved since a scene in the movie depicts a gun hidden inside a Bible, which allegedly hurt religious sentiments of the Christian community.
“if you want you can produce the video, I will see…the petitioner seeks additional time to produce additional evidence”, Justice Devan Ramachandran observed.
However, the Court orally remarked that people should not be so intolerant. It pointed that such scenes were depicted as early as in 1960's and 1970's in the English movies. "Should we be so intolerant that even for a passing reference to a book you should take up objection?" said the bench.
"Bible is used to hide a gun so Christians are unhappy. If it is Gita, Hindus will become unhappy. If it is the Quran, Muslims will be unhappy," the bench added.
The Court enquired as to how the book can be said to be the Bible since it was only a fleeting shot. It remarked that the movie was censored by experts before it was released on various platforms.
"How do you know this is the Bible? ...The statement says it was as a fleeting moment...it was such brief that it could not be registered in the mind of the viewer..."
The plea has been moved by Advocates Gigimon Issac, Tom Thomas , Tobias Togi Mathew
Case title: Joji Varghese V State Of Kerala
Case number: WP(C) 42896/ 2023