IUML Youth League march in Kerala: Over 300 booked for raising provocative slogans

Kerala Police on Wednesday (July 26) booked over 300 persons, mostly members of the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), for allegedly raising provocative slogans during a march in Kasaragod, police said.

The slogans were raised during a march organised by the IUML Youth League at  Kanhangad on Tuesday (July 25) in solidarity with the victims of violence in Manipur.

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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 PK 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 the IUML ideology. He also said the worker shouted the slogans deviating from the printed version given to the workers for raising during the march.

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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 radicalization”.

“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 and technology in-charge Amit Malviya alleged in a tweet.

“Are Hindus and Christians now safe in Kerala?” he asked.

(With agency inputs)