If CBFC needs proof, we have it: Emergency victims

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If central board of film certification (CBFC) needs any written proof, we have 1,000 case studies of

torture

during the Emergency, said the association of

the Emergency

victims while reacting to the board’s denial of censorship certificate to Yadhu Vijayakrishnan’s documentary on the Emergency, ‘

21 Months of Hell

’, citing too much violence.

“This is ridiculous and even more ridiculous is to ask for proof of police’s touring methods,” the members of the association of Emergency

victims

told reporters here on Saturday. “The content of my documentary was the brutal torturing methods employed by the Kerala police. But what the board said was that they cannot take the risk of certifying this political documentary. But my documentary barely features the political plot of 1975. In fact, the aim of my documentary was to show the torture methods, the interviews of real victims, and its recreation with actors,” said the director of the documentary Yadhu VijayaKrishnan.

“If CBFC needs proof, our association has it. We have recorded the video and interviews of around 1,000 real victims of the Emergency. It was 21 months of real hell. Our members are still suffering from the wounds of torture. Even after 42 years we are yet to recover from that trauma. In Kerala, there were around 7,314 anti–Emergency agitators. Many of them have lost their mental stability and are suffering from various ailments. But we are not getting any compensation for the atrocious and ridiculous torture we had faced,” said Vaikom Gopakumar, the patron of the association.

“What Yadhu portrayed was only the trailer of the original emergency torture. We appreciate him for the effort he has taken to portray our lives,” said M Rajasekhara Panicker, president of the association.