Former MLA P C George arrested for hate speech

Kerala police on Wednesday arrested former legislator and Kerala Congress leader PC George after a district court in Thiruvananthapuram cancelled his anticipatory bail for flouting conditions of the pre-arrest bail

Kerala police on Wednesday arrested former legislator and Kerala Congress leader PC George after a district court in Thiruvananthapuram cancelled his anticipatory bail for flouting conditions of the pre-arrest bail.

Former legislator and Kerala Congress leader PC George’s son Sharon George said he will move the high court on Thursday for bail. (HT)

He was booked for delivering an inflammatory speech during a meeting of Hindu priests in the state capital on April 28. He was arrested on May 1 and the district court later granted him bail but restrained him from making inflammatory speeches.

But police moved the court again after another case was registered against him last week for making another round of provocative speech in Vennala (Kochi) in which he criticised a particular community.

Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Surendran condemned his arrest. “There are different yardsticks to different people. In Alapuzha, when PFI workers raised highly provocative slogans it took three days for police to act,” he said.

George’s son Sharon George said he will move the high court on Thursday for bail.

Speaking at the Ananthapurai Hindu Mahasammelan on April 28, PC George had made inflammatory comments against Muslims and Christians in the context of ‘Love Jihad’ (a term coined by right-wing groups to explain interfaith marriage between a Muslim boy and a girl from other communities).