Was in Tears, My Heart Bled: Kerala Mohiniyattam Dancer After Judge Stopped her Performance

“My heart was bleeding and I was in tears. Asking me to stop my Mohiniyattam performance midway was not just my insult, it was an insult of the art form and culture of Kerala,” renowned danseuse Dr Neena Prasad told News18.

Her performance was allegedly stopped by a Kerala sitting judge, claiming it was creating “disturbance”.

Dr Kalam Pasha, the district judge who allegedly called the police, lives behind the Government Moyan LP School, where the event was being held. She wrote about it in a Facebook post.

‘KERALA HUMILIATED’

Dr Prasad called the March 19 incident the most “bitter experience” of her life. She was invited to perform a dance recital after the launch of a book, ‘Ithihasangale Thedi’ (In search of history) authored by Sreechitran M.J.

“I was to perform a thematic presentation titled ‘Sakhyam’ (Friendship). It speaks about a close bonding of Arjuna and Krishna. This particular piece is very close to my heart and also marked a milestone in the history of Mohiniyyatam. After my second performance, which lasted around 40 minutes, the organisers requested me to stop, claiming the police had asked them to end the event,” she said.

Dr Prasad was informed by the organisers that the police had received a complaint that the music from the performance was loud.

“It was a beautiful solo performance where soft musical instruments like violin, edakka and mridangam were used. I was about to reach the highlight of the performance, when the police came in. It was very humiliating. Not just me, the incident has insulted India’s cultural fraternity and Kerala,” she added.

CONTROVERSIAL JUDGE

This is not the first time that Justice Kalam Pasha is mired in controversy.

In September 2021, Pasha’s wife had approached the Kerala high court, seeking invalidation of the talaq pronounced by him. However, a division bench of the Kerala high court held the pre-requisite for pronouncing a valid talaq was fulfilled and the petition was dismissed.

Bharatiya Janata Party state president V Muraleedharan, on Twitter, called the incident “yet another example of Talibanization of Kerala under CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s rule”.

Reacting to the incident, Kerala speaker M B Rajesh, who also hails from Palakkad, called it “an assault on freedom of expression and an insult to the artiste”.

“It is very unfortunate that the organisers were forced to stop the programme. They had the permission to conduct the programme until 9.30 pm. They should have been allowed to continue. Judge Pasha’s act is certainly unbecoming of a man of his stature,” Rajesh told News 18.

A group of lawyers also organised a protest in front of the Palakkad court against Judge Pasha on Wednesday.

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