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Kerala CM says police will examine Hamas leader's speech at pro-Palestine event in state
A video of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal addressing an event organised by Jamaat's Solidarity Youth Movement had sparked a controversy.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the police will probe the virtual address by a Hamas leader at an event in the state.
Responding to a question on remarks made by Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda who alleged that the ruling government did nothing to prevent the Hamas leader's address, Vijayan said,"If something wrong has happened, appropriate action would be taken".
"The person referred to as a Palestinian warrior spoke at an event organised by the Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. We need to see what he said. “It appears that the speech was a recorded one. We need to understand that issue properly”, PTI quoted Vijayan as saying.
Vijayan said that when Jamaat-e-Islami or any other organisation approaches the police for permission to hold an event, it is not denied. "That is what happened in the instant case," he said.
“If something is wrong in that, the police will examine it, and action will be taken”, he added. The chief minister alleged that the BJP was aiming at implicating people in false cases for merely expressing support for Palestine, and asserted that it would not be permitted in Kerala.
Solidarity Youth Movement (SYM), the youth wing of Jamaat had organised a rally in solidarity with the people of Palestine. A video showing Khaled Mashal, the founding member of Hamas politburo, addressing the event via videoconferencing stirred a controversy. The viral video showed posters carrying tagline “Uproot bulldozer Hindutva and apartheid Zionism”.
Under fire from the BJP, SYM's state chief Suhaib CT had argued that there was nothing “unusual or illegal” about the Hamas leader’s attendance at the event.
“Hamas is not a banned organisation in India nor has it been declared as a terrorist outfit. It does not operate in India as well. Their leaders have spoken several times to the people in Kerala at programmes in the past", he had said.
(With PTI inputs)
