Students made to wear 'I am Babri' badges in Kerala school, police book 3 people
The police booked three leaders from the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) for allegedly forcing students of a school in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district to wear ‘I am Babri’ badges on Monday (December 6), the 19th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid.
The police registered a case against local SDPI leader Muneer Ibnu Nazeer and two others for trying to create communal disharmony and riots in the area. The SDPI, which was founded in 2009, is an offshoot of the Popular Front of India (PFI), had organised a nation-wide protest to mark the anniversary on Monday.
According to an India Today report, the police registed a case against the SDPI leaders after the National Child Rights Commission (NCPCR) sought a reply from the Pathanamthitta district police chief on the incident. The school’s parent teacher association too had filed a police complaint alleging that some unidentified persons had intercepted the students in front of the school and made them wear ‘I am Babri’ badges. The police have launched an investigation into the incident.
Also read: How its Left roots, migration history helped Kerala tide over poverty
Is Kerala another Syria in the making? The SDPI is forcefully pasting “I Am Babari” sticker on the students of Chungappara St. George School in Kottangal Panchayat, which is ruled by the @CPIMKerala – SDPI alliance. Why is CM @vijayanpinarayi silent? Condemnable. @AmitShah pic.twitter.com/IT46oVjPN4
— K Surendran (@surendranbjp) December 6, 2021
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trying to get political mileage over the incident, blamed the police’s inaction over the incident to CPM’s closeness with SDPI. BJP state president K Surendran lambasted the ruling party and demanded “strong action” to be taken against PFI for their involvement.
According to him, the link between Communists and PFI is evident and added that “Kerala is turning into another Syria”. The rights of children were being hindered and the government was helping others to make Kerala a hub of terrorism, said media reports. BJP leader Krishnadas’s complaint filed with NCPCR said, “The students of the school are mostly from Hindu and Christian communities. The badge has been used to create hatred among children. The commission should take action on this issue.
December 6 was observed as ‘Babri Day’ by many organisations as a form of protest against the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in 1992.
