Since Sunday, parts of New Delhi have been witnessing incidents of violence, which began with the clash between groups against and for the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Civilians, police officials, and journalists are being assaulted, houses and vehicles are being torched. At such a time, when officials across the country have urged citizens to not panic and incite violence of any sort, a 24-year-old man from Kerala released a video, making hateful statements against those protesting against the CAA at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh.
Following this, the Kerala police arrested Sreejith Raveendran, a native of Kallamala in Attappadi, Palakkad district. The media centre of the Kerala police even released a hilarious yet important video to teach him and others who attempt to stoke further violence a lesson.
In the video, which he posted on his Facebook page on Monday, Sreejith can be heard using abusive language against Muslims in general and the Shaheen Bagh protesters in particular. Just like Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra, this man, too, said that after US President Donald Trump leaves, Muslims will be taught a lesson. And throughout the two-minute video, he is abusive.
Apart from arresting him, the Kerala police reacted to Sreejith with a video: "We took him, okay!", says a message, adding that the Agali police in Palakkad has arrested the man for spreading messages that cause communal divisiveness.
The Kerala Police also made another short clip based on Sreejith's rant, interspersed with scenes from Nivin Pauly-starrer Action Hero Biju.
In both the videos, the music has been aptly chosen to convey the message.
According to his Facebook page, Sreejith has described himself as the ‘prakhand sanyojak’ (Block Coordinator) of the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is a right-wing organisation.
After the video went viral, a member of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) filed a complaint at the Agali police station on Wednesday. Following this, Sreejith was arrested from his residence by noon.
He has been booked under section 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups based on religion) of the Indian Penal Code, the Circle Inspector of Agali Police Station told TNM.
In the wake of the riots in Delhi, which has claimed 20 lives so far, the Kerala police said that strict action will be taken against those trying to incite communal disharmony by creating or spreading hateful messages, directly or indirectly, through social media. In a statement, Loknath Behera, the Director-General of Police (DGP), added that social media is being closely monitored.