Over 300 persons, mostly members of the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), were booked on Wednesday for allegedly raising provocative slogans during a march in this northern Kerala district, police said here.
The slogans were raised during a march organised by the Youth League at nearby Kanhangad on Tuesday in solidarity with the victims of violence in Manipur.
An officer of the Hosdurg police station said the cases were registered against 300 persons who participated in the Youth League march based on a complaint filed by the BJP Kanhangad mandalam president.
They have been booked under Section 153A of the IPC, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony. No arrests have been made so far, the officer said.
Meanwhile, Youth League State General Secretary P K Firoz said the worker who raised the provocative slogan has been expelled from the organisation. In a statement, Firoz said Abdul Salam from Kanhangad Municipality was expelled from the Youth League as he raised slogans that are against its ideology. He also said the worker shouted the slogans deviating from the printed version given to the workers for raising during the march.
Slamming the Youth League and Muslim League, which is a key ally of the Congress-led UDF opposition in Kerala, the BJP alleged that the provocative slogans were raised with the support of the CPI(M)-led LDF government and that the southern state "is now the new pit of rabid radicalisation".
"Youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League, an ally of the Congress, held a rally in Kerala’s Kasargode, and raised vile anti-Hindu slogans, threatening to hang them (Hindus) in front of Temples and burn them alive...They wouldn’t have dared to go this far had the Pinarayi Govt not been supporting them," BJP's National Information & Technology in-charge Amit Malviya alleged in a tweet.
Youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League, an ally of the Congress, held a rally in Kerala’s Kasargode, and raised vile anti-Hindu slogans, threatening to hang them (Hindus) in front of Temples and burn them alive…
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 26, 2023
They wouldn’t have dared to go this far had the Pinarayi… pic.twitter.com/lFV5caJ18C
"Are Hindus and Christians now safe in Kerala," he asked.
Meanwhile, the Kerala BJP unit said that Rahul Gandhi must be held accountable for the "actions of the party he calls 'secular'".
We strongly condemn the shocking footage from the Kanhangad protest. The chants of "We will hang you in temples" and "We will burn you alive" by the Muslim League, aimed at Hindus, are utterly reprehensible and cannot be justified. @RahulGandhi must be held accountable for the… pic.twitter.com/KIZPakreyo
— BJP KERALAM (@BJP4Keralam) July 26, 2023