Censorship – The Arts

The authorities in Kerala’s Kochi city banned a drama from being staged Friday at the ongoing Cochin Carnival after the BJP alleged its title insulted those holding constitutional positions.

The play, Gavarnarum Thoppiyum, which loosely translates to ‘Governor and his Hat’ and is the Malayalam adaptation of an 1804 German drama ‘William Tell’, authored by Friedrich Schiller, was scheduled to be staged Friday night.

It depicts a dictatorial governor of a state who places a hat in the city and orders people to bow to it as a mark of respect towards him. The governor deploys guards to ensure compliance of his order, and those who fail to do so are punished.