File FIR against Pala Bishop, orders Kerala court on his ‘narcotic jihad’ speech
A magistrate’s court in Kerala ordered the police to register an FIR against Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt for his remarks on ‘narcotic jihad’ on September 9.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Kerala court on Monday ordered the police to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt who ignited a huge controversy with his remarks that after love jihad, Catholic youngsters were reportedly becoming victims of a “well-orchestrated narcotic jihad”.
A senior police officer said the judicial first class magistrate court in Pala (Kottayam) directed the police to file a case against the Catholic bishop under several sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 153 (A) which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race or language.
An FIR has been registered in this connection by the Kuravilangad police station pursuant to the court order, the officer said. The FIR was registered on a complaint by the Imam Council of India which had earlier approached a court.
A spokesman of the bishop’s diocese said it is yet to get any information about the FIR and the church will deal with it legally once it receives a notice. Many Muslim bodies including Samastha Kerala Students Federation have welcomed the decision, but the state’s political leaders are yet to react.
Addressing a church ceremony in Kottayam on September 9, the Bishop said those who try to establish that ‘love and narcotic jihad’ does not exist in the state, were just shutting their eyes to reality.
“Wherever arms are not used, narcotic drugs are being used and Catholic girls turn victims. Some groups are functioning in the state to support them. To understand this, one needs to analyse how women from other religions landed in the Islamic State camps,” he said, referring to the trip of 21 people, including five converts to Islam, from north Kerala to Afghanistan in 2016.
“Love jihad” is a term often used by right-wing groups to describe unions between Muslim men and women belonging to other religions.
All political parties except the BJP criticised the Pala Bishop’s statement, asking him to withdraw it but he refused. Later, the Bishop had justified his statement in church mouthpiece ‘Deepika’ saying pseudo-secularism will destroy the country. Kerala BJP president K Surendran, however, insisted that there was nothing wrong with his remarks. ”What he said is true. We are not blaming the whole community, but extremists elements within it,” the state BJP chief said.