A few months ago, we had reported about how a communal violence had lead to an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi which included the signatures of over 50 film celebrities like director Mani Ratnam, actress Revathi and Anurag Kashyap among others. Camp BJP within Bollywood had already attacked the letter with an open version of their own statement and now going a step further a sedition case has been filed against those 50 signatories. 

An FIR has been lodged in Bihar's Muzaffarpur on Thursday against these celebrities based on a two-month old order passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Surya Kant Tiwari. Local advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha who has filed the FIR said in a statement,

"The 50 signatories tarnished the image of the country and undermined the impressive performance of the Prime Minister..Their letter supports secessionist tendencies..The CJM had passed the order on August 20, accepting my petition upon the receipt of which an FIR was lodged today (Thursday) at the Sadar police station,"

 

The open letter by Mani Ratnam and others had stated that “Jai Shri Ram” had become a provocative war cry, and had appealed to the Prime Minister to taken action against the perpetrators of hate crimes such as mob lynching in the name of religion.