PC George, a member of the Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been booked for alleged hate speech, police said on Saturday.
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This came after the senior BJP leader reportedly made a remark about the minority community during a TV debate earlier this week.
Police in the Erattupetta municipality of Kerala's Kottayam district noted that the action was based on a complaint filed by the Muslim Youth League Municipal Committee.
A police officer told PTI, “The case was registered after the statements of the complainants were recorded. It is under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further proceedings would be initiated soon.”
BJP hits back
Hitting back at Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) coalition, the saffron party accused the state government of“not saying a word against Hamas.”
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Ex-Union minister Prakash Javadekar, the BJP's Kerala in-charge, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “FIR against PC George is political vendetta by LDF government, which doesn't say a word against Hamas.”
{{/usCountry}}Ex-Union minister Prakash Javadekar, the BJP's Kerala in-charge, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “FIR against PC George is political vendetta by LDF government, which doesn't say a word against Hamas.”
{{/usCountry}}Prakash Javadekar also hit out at the Congress-headed United Democratic Front, holding the opposition alliance “guilty” of “appeasement of extremist politics.”
“PC George has already clarified that his intention was to express opposition to extremism and not to target any community. Kerala stands firmly against extremism,” Javadekar noted.
K Surendran, the chief of BJP's Kerala unit, also condemned the action against George. Declaring that the case would be fought “legally and politically,” Surendran accused the LDF government of "acting under pressure from communal forces.”
A seven-time former MLA, PC George merged the Kerala Janapaksham (Secular), a regional party formed by him in July 2019, with the BJP in February last year.