‘Bigil’ audio launch: Showcause notice to TN college

The audio release of Tamil movie “Bigil” starring Vijay was held in a private college near the outskirts of the city on September 19, with the actor making political comments during his speech.

Higher Education Department Principal Secretary Mangat Ram Sharma said that educational institutions in the State should use its place for conducting only social activities that largely benefits the students.

Stating that the authorities have already issued circulars to all the colleges and universities not to conduct events that are irrelevant to the students, Sharma said, “I have given orders to give show-cause notice to that college and sought also explanation.”

Speaking on the sidelines of a function held at Presidency College here, the Principal Secretary also warned that affiliation would be cancelled if any institution uses its campus for conducting political functions. “Immediate action will be taken against the institutions, which violate the norms,” he added.

A senior official from the Directorate of Collegiate Education pointed out that after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with students at a women’s college in Chennai during the last Lok Sabha elections, the officials had also issued a circular questioning how the campus was used for a discussion involving a political leader when the model code of conduct was in place.

He said all the colleges and institutions besides universities should get mandatory permission from the Higher Education Department before conducting any programme or event on the campus.

The official said that government is also planning to come out with proper guidelines for the functions arranged by the educational institutions.

Even before its release, actor Vijay-starred ‘Bigil’ movie has landed into controversies and the recent one being his pose in the movie poster released recently as the Tamil Nadu Muslim League (TNML) on Tuesday demanded an apology for allegedly insulting butchers. “In the audio launch function of ‘Bigil’ movie, a poster was released in which Vijay was seen standing with his slipper on the wooden board used to chop meat. The poster has insulted the sentiments of butchers and Vijay should seek unconditional apology from butchers,” said VMS Mustafa, founding president, TNML, in a statement. “Fish sellers and butchers, before commencing their daily work, worship the wooden board and the wooden board is treated as sacred by them, but the movie poster has insulted the entire butcher community. Vijay has lakhs of fans and this poster will cast a bad image on butchers among his fans,” he said. He also demanded the state government to remove the scene from the movie as the movie poster has created a tense situation between the butchers and fans of Vijay.