Bengaluru: The page of famous Malayalam poet and critic K. Satchidanandan was supposedly suspended for 24 hours by Facebook on Saturday after he posted a video mimicking the BJP’s defeat in the current Kerala elections.
The former secretary of the Sahitya Akademi, Satchidanandan, is also one of the most honoured littérateurs in the state.
ThePrint reported that the celebrated poet told that his Facebook account was blocked Saturday after he posted a “hilarious video about Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Kerala BJP’s loss in the recent assembly polls”.
“I did not post anything offensive. It was a message (a movie clip) I found on WhatsApp that showed German dictator Adolf Hitler reprimanding his soldiers during his final days,” Satchidanandan said. “There was audio in it that suggested Union Home Minister Amit Shah was pulling up Kerala BJP party leaders for their poor performance in the assembly elections.”
“I had also posted another advertisement about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I had received both on WhatsApp,” the poet added.
Satchidanandan told, his account was eventually made active Sunday morning. The comment sent to Facebook by ThePrint was yet to receive any response by the time of publishing this report.
The poet said he came to know that his account was blocked only when he tried to upload a scientific report, published by The Lancet, on the Covid situation in India. Earlier, he has received a warning from Facebook about the suspension of his account.
“After a few hours, I noticed that I was unable to post, share or write a comment through my FB account. But this is not the first time,” he said. “On 21 April, I had posted a humorous comment, for which I received a warning. But I had earlier noticed that several of my comments were missing or even disappearing. I have been informed that I cannot go live on FB as I had, according to the social media company, violated their community guidelines.”
‘12 years of poetry cannot be erased by 24 hours of silence’
As the account was reactivated, the poet made a post saying “twelve years of poetry and protest on Facebook can hardly be erased with twenty-four hours of silence”.
“If there is a choice between being a part of Facebook or becoming a democratic and a defender of human rights, I have no qualms or doubt where I stand,” the post said.
The poet received support from a number of people and political leaders who criticised the alleged suspension of his account.
Facebook’s decision was termed “deplorable” by Congress’ Shashi Tharoor.
Deplorable that @Facebook has suspended the account of one of Kerala's greatest living poets, @Satchida (K. Satchidanandan, former Secy of the SahityaAkademi), for posting a video about BJP's defeat in the Kerala Assembly elections. We must not allow censorship into our politics!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 8, 2021
Senior CPI(M) leader Thomas Isaac, who served as finance minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan government re-elected last week, also extended solidarity to the poet.
In solidarity with Sachdanandan leading contemporary Malayalam poet and former secretary of National Sahitya Academy, whose Facebook account has been closed for posting a video on PM Modi in relation to BJP defeat in recent Kerala election .A most deplorable act .#Facebook
— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) May 8, 2021
An ecologist and UN environmental negotiator based out of Thiruvananthapuram, Dr S. Faizi, raised concerns over Facebook blocking Satchidanandan’s account.
“It is unacceptable and against the principles of freedom of expression. We have to look into how these conglomerates control the medium and also how they ensure that the interests of those who support them are catered to, in order to enhance their capital,” he told ThePrint. “Very often, we see that FB blocks anything that they detect as being anti-Modi or anti-Centre.”
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