Ruckus in Palakkad municipality over naming institution after RSS founder

Palakkad (Kerala): A bitter dispute over the naming of a skill development centre for people with disabilities after RSS founder K B Hedgewar erupted into chaos in BJP-ruled Palakkad municipality on Tuesday, sparking clashes and warnings of retaliation from leaders of political parties.

The BJP-ruled Palakkad municipality's decision to name the centre after Hedgewar, founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), resulted in a ruckus in the council hall as the UDF and LDF councillors raised slogans against the move.

There were also instances of clashes between councillors of the BJP and those of the LDF and UDF as the police present in the hall tried to separate the two groups and move them outside, according to visuals on TV channels.

The LDF and UDF councillors came prepared with placards in English which said -- "who is this Hedgewar" -- and also in Malayalam which demanded an apology from the BJP over its move.

They waved placards in the council hall and shouted slogans against the municipality and the BJP for deciding to name the centre after the RSS founder.

The BJP councillors also came with their own placards in which they said they do not want a 'Jinnah street' in Palakkad and wanted it to be renamed as 'Kalikkara street' -- its original name.

As both sides shouted slogans against each other and waved their placards, the situation escalated into clashes between them and the police intervened to separate them and moved them outside the council hall.

Thereafter, both sides continued with their protests outside the hall. The UDF and LDF councillors protested outside the municipal chairperson's office against naming the centre after Hedgwar and were later arrested and removed from there by the police.

On the other side, the BJP councillors demanded that a street in the Palakkad town named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founding father of Pakistan, should be renamed.

"We never raised this issue before. But, since they (LDF-UDF) are opposing the municipality decision (to name the centre after Hedgewar), we are raising this demand now," one of the BJP councillors told reporters outside the municipality.

Later, Congress MLA from Palakkad Rahul Mamkootathil claimed that the BJP lied when they said that the naming of the centre was decided in an earlier council meeting as it was placed on the agenda only on Tuesday.

"Therefore, we can see that it is apparent to them (BJP) also that they cannot bring Hedgewar and RSS before the public openly. That is why they are trying to do it by lying," he alleged. He also questioned how UDF councillors were arrested by police and why no BJP councillors, who beat up opposition members including women, were arrested.

In the evening, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran warned of retaliation if any of their members, including Mamkootathil, were harmed.

Speaking at a protest programme held here in connection with the issue, Sudhakaran said that resorting to violence was not available to BJP and RSS alone and that the Congress was also capable of hitting back.

"I am publicly announcing that we have people who can hit back. If anyone harms Rahul Mamkootathil, that person's arm will be cut off," he warned.

At the same time, he also said that he was not condoning violence of any kind. Since April 11, when the municipality held an event to lay the foundation stone of the skill development centre, a row has erupted in Palakkad over the naming of the institution after Hedgewar.

Protests were held by the Congress, its youth wing and the Left organisations against the centre being named after the RSS founder. The BJP retaliated with its own protest marches against the Congress which in turn lodged a complaint with the police against the saffron party's Palakkad district president Prasanth Siva over his allegedly threatening remarks against Mamkootathil.