The BJP on Saturday demanded stern action by the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala into the recent provocative sloganeering issue by the Youth League activists and said those anti-Hindu slogans didn't come up suddenly but were practised beforehand and raised deliberately.
The saffron party also criticised the alleged silence of other mainstream political parties in the state including the ruling CPI(M), the CPI and Congress on the controversial issue.
In a Malayalam tweet, senior BJP leader and the party's Kerala Prabhari (party in-charge) Prakash Javadekar attacked the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) over the provocative slogans raised by its Youth League activists during a march in Kasaragod and asked them to give a reply to the people of the state.
Questioning the sincerity of the League's claims that they had expelled a party worker who had raised the anti-Hindu slogan, he said not just him but there were over 300 other activists, who had taken part in the march, who also raised similar slogans.
"This was not a slogan that came up suddenly. It was practised beforehand and raised deliberately," Javadekar tweeted.
മുസ്ലിം ലീഗ് പറയുന്നു, 'ഹിന്ദുക്കളെ അമ്പലത്തിൽ കെട്ടിതൂക്കി കത്തിക്കും' എന്ന മുദ്രാവാക്യം വിളിച്ച അവരുടെ പ്രവർത്തകനെ പാർട്ടിയിൽ നിന്ന് പുറത്താക്കി എന്ന്. പക്ഷെ, ആ ജാഥയിൽ പങ്കെടുത്ത 300-ലേറെ പേരും ആ മുദ്രാവാക്യം ഏറ്റുചൊല്ലിയിരുന്നു. ഇത് പെട്ടെന്ന് ഉണ്ടായ ഒരു മുദ്രാവാക്യമല്ല,… pic.twitter.com/xbLc8RtPsp
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) July 29, 2023
Why are parties like the CPI(M), CPI, Congress and others not responding on the matter, he asked.
The state government should take stern action on the issue, the former union minister demanded, tagging Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Javadekar's statement came three days after five persons had been arrested for allegedly raising provocative slogans during a march organised by the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the northern district of Kasaragod.
Over 300 people, mostly members of the Muslim Youth League, were booked for raising provocative slogans during the march organised by it on Tuesday in solidarity with the victims of violence in Manipur.
The case was filed based on a complaint by BJP's youth wing Yuva Morcha.
They have been booked under various sections of the IPC, including 153A, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.