Pro-Palestine mime re-staged in Kerala school amid protests
Kasaragod (PTI): Students of Kumbala Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) on Monday re-staged a pro-Palestine mime show that was disrupted by teachers last week in this district.
The mime, performed by six students dressed in black, was part of the school’s art festival and drew a large audience.
This time, students adhered to the guidelines and did not raise any placards or the Palestine flag.
While the performers refrained from chanting slogans, some members of the audience were heard shouting pro-Palestine slogans.
"We are very happy to get the opportunity to stage the mime again. We thank everyone who supported us. Our intention is to showcase the sufferings of people in Palestine, and it was not against anyone," a student involved in the performance told reporters.
Meanwhile, BJP activists staged a protest march against the mime at the school. Police blocked the protestors before they could reach the school gate.
"It is illegal to shout slogans supporting another country at a school event. A case should be registered and an investigation conducted," the protestors demanded.
Education Minister VSivankutty wrote on his Facebook page, hailing the re-staging of the pro-Palestine mime, saying the government stands firmly with the democratic and secular rights of students and their freedom of expression.
In a statement, the minister said the promise given to students on re-staging the mime has been fulfilled.
"The students’ creative protest expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine has successfully reached the stage. This government once again declares strongly that it stands with the democratic and secular rights of children, as well as their freedom of expression," Sivankutty said.
It is our duty to give our children the courage and encouragement to raise their voices against injustice anywhere in the world, the minister added.
He also congratulated the organisers, teachers, and students.
Last Friday, the mime was disrupted midway by two teachers who forced the organisers to close the stage curtains, drawing sharp criticism. The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) subsequently held a meeting on Saturday and decided to suspend the arts festival.
Student organisations, MSF and SFI, later protested against the teachers, demanding action.
Minister Sivankutty intervened, stating that Kerala supports Palestine and the mime would be staged again.
The Education Department is conducting an inquiry into the incident, including the involvement of the two teachers who stopped the mime show.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
