The Chairman of the Sri Lankan Singers' Association (SLASA), Keerthi Pasquel made a complaint to the Kohuwala Police regarding the incident.

FrontPage reached out to Mr. Pasquel today (7th September) to ask him about his reaction to the incident, and what prompted his police complaint.

According to Mr. Pasquel he first came across the video on Facebook, and was shocked to see such a disgusting act on a popular stage by a performer; which he says is unheard of even in private concerts, let alone on a public stage. He had consulted Inspector General of Police, Pujith Jayasundara on the matter, and went on to register a formal complaint against the singer Kaizer Kaiz at the Kohuwala Police station

Denouncing such a disgusting act, he said that a performance where profanity involving the word ‘Mother’ was used so freely by a singer, will never be acceptable in a civilised society. He said he felt it was his duty as an artist and the Chairman of the SLASA to take action against such acts.

Clarifying that he was not against rapping, he condemned the misuse of that style of music in ways such as was seen in this incident.

He said he took the lead in this case, and hoped to be able to stop such things from taking place in the future as well. He said he has informed about this to the Cultural Ministry, and intends to discuss the matter with the Minister and officials and apprise the President and Prime Minister on the situation, and push for legislation that will penalise such performers.

Further clarifying his stance he said that his decision to take action in this incident was also intended at the many other YouTube videos by other local rappers who freely use profanity in their creations. Emphasising that performing artists in this country went to great lengths and sacrifices to create quality works of art and to retain that quality through the generations, he said that if they did not do something about the use of abusive language in the performing arts, they will be seen as sinners in the eyes of the next generation.

Mr. Pasquel acknowledged that the rapper concerned had issued a public apology after the incident. However, he pointed out that while it was good that the artist had apologised, apologising after the matter will not take away from the fact that it did take place.

Mr. Pasquel said he expects to be criticised by those who appreciated such performances, and concluded that he set out to do something about it, considering it his obligation to the nation.

(frontpage.lk)