The incident had happened on Saturday (March 19) night in the Pallakad district of Kerala. Dr Neena Prasad broke into tears.
Kerala District Judge Kalam Pasha forcibly stopped midway the dance performance of renowned Mohiniyattam dancer Dr Neena Prasad on Saturday (March 19) in Kerala’s Palakkad district.
The police stormed the event organised at Government Moyan LP School in Palakkad. The judge’s residence is near the school. The police team, which raided the venue, said that the music was causing disturbance to the judge and demanded that the function be stalled immediately.
In an emotional Facebook post, Dr Neena said that it was the first time she had faced such an episode in her life, and it was extremely humiliating.
“As an artiste and woman, I felt humiliated and I would like to record my protest. The district judge had asked the organisers to stop the event as he was having trouble with the music,” she wrote in the post.
Criticising the judge's conduct, Union Minister V Muraleedharan said that the judge’s conduct was an insult to Kerala. “Yet another example of Talibanization of Kerala under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. No artistic freedom under communist rule. Stopping Ms. Neena Prasad’s Mohiniyattam performance–Kerala’s own dance form abruptly – is an insult to Kerala,” he posted on Twitter.
Describing her humiliating and heart-breaking experience to The Hindu, Dr Prasad said, “It was an intricate solo performance for which I dedicated a lot of my time. It was performed with sober instruments such as violin, mridangam and edakka. It wasn’t certainly a cacophony.”
Defending their actions, the Kerala police said that they did not have a choice once the judge ordered as the judge’s order bound them.
This is not the first time Judge Kalam Pasha has been in the news for the wrong reason. Last year, his wife accused him of illegally divorcing her through triple talaq. She had approached the Kerala High Court to register a complaint against Judge Pasha and punish him accordingly.
Judge Pasha had allegedly sent his wife a letter in March 2018 informing her that he had divorced her through triple talaq. He again sent a letter informing his wife that there was a typing error in his previous letter and he had divorced her in March 2017. Judge Pasha’s wife had also accused his elder brother, a retired judge of the Kerala High Court, of threatening her to accept the divorce.
In a significant verdict in August 2017, the Supreme Court had declared the practice of Triple Talaq unconstitutional. Judge Pasha’s wife had alleged that the year of triple talaq was changed to avoid the legal consequences of the Supreme Court verdict.
