Support pours in for ace dancer after a judge abruptly stopped her performance in Palakkad

The district court in Kerala’s Palakkad district witnessed an altogether different kind of demonstration on Wednesday with lawyers singing songs on court premises, protesting against a district judge for allegedly getting the performance of dancer Neena Prasad stopped.

The incident, which occurred last Saturday, came to light after the famous dancer took to social media to narrate the story two days later.

Prasad said that on Saturday night, she was invited to a cultural programme at Moyan lower primary school in Pallakad to perform Mohiniyattam. She said that she was left in tears after police barged into the venue halfway during the performance, and switched off the mike, saying that they were under orders from a district judge.

According to organisers, the judge, who resides just behind the school, called up the nearest police station and directed them to stop the concert. He reportedly told policemen that the show was turning into a big nuisance for him and created sound pollution. He then directed them to stop it immediately. Policemen rushed to the spot and stopped the performance mid-way.

“I never had such a humiliating experience in my life. Shocked, we were in tears. The district judge ordered the performance should be stopped citing noise disturbed him. It is an insult to artists, and their very existence was questioned by such acts,” she said in her post. “It was a solo performance. It was performed with the accompaniment of light and sober instruments like violin, mridangam and edakka. I don’t know how it created such a noise. My heart bled,” she said.

HT reached out to a senior police officer, who did not want to be quoted but said, “We told him that organisers have taken permission for the event. But he was in no mood to relent. We were helpless.”

HT also reached out to the district judge, but he did not respond to phone calls.