An FIR was registered against Chandrasekhar for disrupting communal harmony, while other leaders were named in a KPCC complaint for spewing hate comments.
Published Oct 31, 2023 | 1:40 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 31, 2023 | 1:40 PM
Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Supplied)
Two days after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed him a person spewing poison, the Kerala police, on Tuesday, 31 October, registered a case against Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar under non-bailable clauses, alleging the promotion of enmity between different social groups by spreading hate using social media.
This is the first time that the Kerala police have registered a case under grave clauses against a Union minister and it is likely to worsen the standoff between the Vijayan-led LDF government in the state and the BJP-led Union government over the series of blasts that rattled Kalamassery near Kochi that left three people dead.
Hailing from Kerala, the businessman-turned-BJP leader currently holds the skill development and entrepreneurship portfolios, along with electronics and information technology.
The Ernakulam city police registered the FIR on its own in connection with the minister’s recent statements on social media regarding the Kochi blasts and a Hamas leader’s virtual address at an event organised by an Islamic group in Malappuram district of the state in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Senior police officers have confirmed to South First that an FIR under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 120(o) (causing nuisance and violation of public order) of the Kerala Police Act has been registered against the minister.
After reports of the bomb blasts at a prayer gathering of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Kalamassery came out on Sunday, Chandrasekhar took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticise Vijayan and his government for patronising those forces that disrupt harmony by engaging in terrorist activities, like the blast.
“Dirty shameless appeasement politics by a discredited CM (and HM) @pinarayivijayan besieged by corruption charges. Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel, when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent Christians,” his tweet read.
Dirty shameless appeasement politics by a discredited CM (and HM) @pinarayivijayan besieged by corruption charges
Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel , when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent christians https://t.co/MQH0ycZsqu
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳(Modiyude Kutumbam) (@Rajeev_GoI) October 29, 2023
He blamed the chief minister for engaging in appeasement politics.
Chandrasekhar also indirectly attacked Vijayan’s participation in a CPI(M) meeting in Delhi, extending solidarity with the suffering Palestinians.
Within hours of his tweet courting controversy, Vijayan used his press meet on Sunday night in Delhi to launch a diatribe against the Union minister, calling him a person spewing communal poison.
Following this, a verbal duel took place on Monday between the chief minister and Chandrasekhar, with the BJP leader calling Vijayan a “liar” and he, in turn, lashing out and terming the MoS “extremely venomous”.
The chief minister also said that if anyone makes statements that are in violation of the law, irrespective of whether they are Union or state ministers, cases would be registered against them.
“He is a minister and he should show a minimum level of respect to the investigating agencies. The probe is underway… in such a serious incident, at such an early stage, they are making such statements targeting a few sets of people. This is based on their communal agenda, but Kerala doesn’t have such an agenda. Kerala always stands against communalism,” said Vijayan on Sunday night, referring to Chandrasekhar’s tweet.
He further asked, “On what basis are these people targetting one community and taking a specific angle? The probe is still ongoing, so on what basis is he making such a statement while holding such a responsible position?”
Meanwhile, the Kerala police have identified over 200 social media posts, including Chandrasekhar’s comment, which spread hatred in society, during a cyber patrol that was launched after the blasts.
Apart from the Union minister, 18 persons have been booked for hate speech.
Despite things, Chandrasekhar has chosen to stick to his earlier comment and has added that Kerala was turning into a state that breeds radicalism.
“I am a Malayali and Malayalis need to say enough is enough,” he said.
Reacting to the FIR on Tuesday, Chandrasekhar took to X to say, “So the two INDI alliance partners @RahulGandhi and @PinarayiVijayan have jointly filed a “case” against me. Two of the biggest appeasers in Indian politics who shamelessly appease poisonous radical violent organizations like SDPI, PFI and Hamas, whose politics have caused radicalization over decades from J&K to Punjab to Kerala and caused many innocent lives and security forces lives to be lost – trying to threaten me with a case for exposing their appeasement of Hamas.”
So the two INDI alliance partners @RahulGandhi and @PinarayiVijayan have jointly filed a "case" against me
Two of biggest appeasers in Indian politics who shamelessly appease poisonous radical violent organizations like SDPI, PFI and Hamas, whose politics have caused… pic.twitter.com/rTOLCULeDT
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳(Modiyude Kutumbam) (@Rajeev_GoI) October 31, 2023
Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) welcomed the registering of the case against the Union Minister and recalled that it, too, had lodged a complaint with the state DGP against the minister who planted a “baseless international conspiracy theory and hate propaganda about the Kalamassery blast”.
“We won’t spare anyone who spreads hate and creates communal strife for their selfish political gains. We will fight with all our might to defend our people and the harmonious atmosphere in the state,” the Kerala Congress tweeted, along with a copy of the complaint signed by Dr P Sarin, Digital Media Wing Convener of the KPCC.
Kerala PCC has filed a complaint to the Kerala DGP against minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar who planted a baseless international conspiracy theory and hate propaganda about the Kalamassery blast. A case has been registered against him and the BJP troll Anil Antony who has been… pic.twitter.com/4K4IhxP06p
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) October 31, 2023
It also had lodged a similar complaint against BJP spokesperson Anil Antony “who has been tasked by the BJP to discredit the Kerala state”.
Anil is incidentally the son of Congress Working Committee member AK Antony and he, too, attributed a Jihadi conspiracy to the Kalamassery blast.
Reacting to complaint, Anil tweeted, “The terror sympathising Congress party @INCKerala in Kerala has filed complaints against me and Sri @Rajeev_GoI for bringing to light the rising fundamentalism in the state, and the bonhomie and the competition between the INDI alliance members @INCKerala @cpimspeak and @kerala_iuml to support this rising extremism.”
The terror sympathising Congress party @INCKerala in Kerala has filed complaints against me and Sri. @Rajeev_GoI for bringing to light the rising fundamentalism in the state, and the bonhomie and the competition between the INDI alliance members @INCKerala @cpimspeak and… https://t.co/DK0UIZbBaY
— Anil K Antony (Modiyude Kudumbam) (@anilkantony) October 31, 2023
Meanwhile, BJP Kerala Chief K Surendran alleged that this action by the Pinarayi Vijayan government was aimed at “helping” and “encouraging” divisive forces and those with extremist views.
“It indicates the double standards of the Pinarayi Vijayan government,” he said, while speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. The party said it would face the case against the Union minister both politically and legally.
Surendran also slammed the Left government and the police for not registering a case against CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan for terming the Kochi bomb blasts as a “terrorist act”.
He also pointed out that no case was registered against IUML MLA Dr MK Muneer and CPI(M) leader M Swaraj for hailing the recent Hamas attack on Israel.
The BJP leader further alleged that the government was not ready to register a case against the Islamist group that organised the event in Malappuram district of the state recently, where a Hamas leader virtually addressed the gathering.
“But they are registering a case against a Union minister who spoke out against the same. This (FIR) is a heinous decision based on vote bank politics. It is aimed at making political gains during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” Surendran alleged.
The blasts were set off at a convention centre in Kalamassery near Kochi, where a prayer meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses — a Christian religious group that originated in the US in the 19th century — was held on Sunday.
A few hours after that, Martin, who claimed to be an estranged member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, surrendered before the police in Thrissur district, claiming that he carried out the multiple blasts.
Initially, one woman had killed in the blasts and 60 were injured, six of them critically. Subsequently, one of the six critically wounded — a 53-year-old woman — succumbed to her injuries. By Monday morning, the death toll had risen to three, with the death of a 12-year-old girl who had suffered 95 percent burns in the incident.
(With PTI inputs)
