Why Madras Cafe should be banned? Student leader speaks out

I watched the special show of John Abraham’s Madras Cafe and was shocked at the manner it has denigrated the Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka.

The film has portrayed Tamil National leader Velupillai Prabakaran as a terrorist and depicted former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as the one who sought to help the Tamils. It has blamed the LTTE for Rajiv’s assassination.

John Abraham's alleged meetings with Rajapaksa has fuelled charges that Madras Cafe is funded by the latter

The movie is silent on the role of Congress leaders in the assassination. It depicts a popular political leader of Tamil Nadu as an LTTE agent.

LTTE fought for Tamil rights in Sri Lanka. They are freedom fighters who fought for a separate Tamil nation.

The student movement in Tamil Nadu in support of the Eelam struggle has grown strong in the aftermath of the 2009 Mullivaikkal massacre.

We will not allow the screening of Madras Cafe in Tamil Nadu. They are planning to release the film in 70 theatres across the state.

Many political parties and students’ organizations have demanded a ban on the film’s release. We hope that the government will respect our feelings and ban the film.

We are planning a demonstration outside actor Ajay Ratnam’s house in Chennai tomorrow. We will be seeking an apology from him for misrepresenting our leader Prabakaran in the film.

Ajay Ratnam should be ashamed of being a Tamil. If he doesn’t apologize, we want him to go with John Abraham, a Malayalee, and settle down with him somewhere outside Tamil Nadu.

We have strong reasons to suspect that the movie’s real producer is Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. John Abraham had met him number of times during the making of the film.

Suppose the movie is released in Tamil Nadu, we may not be able to guarantee a peaceful protest against the film.

We students will also make a film titled ‘Delhi Cafe' and expose the role of several Congress leaders in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.

A Manikandan is a student of Loyola College, Chennai