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| Rathupaswala Ranja |
An individual who claimed that he is from the Presidential security division had arrived with a group of police officers and threatened the Ritz cinema manager Martin Wickremeratne demanding him to pull down the entire advertisement cutout of the film ‘Rathupaswala Ranja’that was displayed at the Ritz cinema , Borella.
Yesterday morning in between the show times , this group which arrived at the cinema hall had protested against this cutout display of the film which exposes the enthronement of injustice and the lawless ‘Kings’. This film is to be screened next at this cinema . The lawless group had ordered that the Rathupaswala Ranja cutout be withdrawn.
The Ritz manager had replied that the cutout cannot be removed that abruptly and suddenly because they have been displayed by the producers . He had therefore told the licensed and uniformed thugs of MaRa that he would do something on the following day after discussing with the producers. When these ‘thugs’ have again threatened him , Wickremeratne had told them , for the moment he can do one thing , that is , cover the words on it.
When the manager later went to the Borella police to complain he was in for a most rude shock : the ‘thugs’ who came to the theater and unlawfully threatened him were Borella police officers ,but the individual who claimed he was from the Presidential security division was not there. What’s more ? the Borella police had refused to record his complaint.
A cinema artiste expressing his views to Lanka e news on this episode said , are the President’s security officers provoked when ‘King of lawlessness’ is exposed, because they truly know the ‘King’ they are securing is in truth the ‘King of lawlessness’ in real life ?’ irrespective of the celluloid ‘king of lawlessness ’ in the film. This threat is most grave and portentous because this constitutes a threat to the very freedom of expression guaranteed explicitly in the constitution , he added.