Kerala: Over 300 booked for provocative slogans raised during IUML Youth League march

More than 300 individuals, primarily comprising members of the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), have been booked by the police on Wednesday for allegedly chanting provocative slogans during a march in northern Kerala’s Kanhangad district. The march, organized by the Youth League, was held on Tuesday to show 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. “Are Hindus and Christians now safe in Kerala,” he asked. With inputs from PTI.