Kerala BJP state secretary Advocate B Gopalakrishnan on Friday ‘warned’ eminent writer Paul Zacharia that if he continued making statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he would be beaten up. Gopalakrishnan also filed a police complaint against Paul.
This came after the writer spoke at an event paying tribute to the late author OV Vijayan in Palakkad.
Zacharia had said there that Vijayan, known best for his work ‘Khasakinte Ithihasam’, took a soft Hindutva approach when he received an award from the RSS. He was talking about the Sanjayan Puraskaram from Thapasya Art and Literary Forum that Vijayan received in 2004, a year before he died.
“If Hitler was alive today and he came and gave me an award, I would not accept it. If Narendra Modi, Gujarat’s killer, comes to give me an award, I would not accept it. A democratic and secular person like Vijayan should never have received the award,” Zacharia said.
Vijayan’s family, including his sister OV Usha, had disagreed with Zacharia then, taking offence at his criticism. “Ettan (brother) has only visited Karunakara Guru’s ashram, he had not gone with the RSS,” Usha said. Another critic said that the award was only a recognition of Vijayan’s writing and views, it does not mean he was joining the RSS.
Gopalakrishnan called a press conference after this to state his displeasure at Zacharia’s words, and then posted on Facebook too.
“One can criticise but not insult. Fake intellectuals like Zacharia should know that if they criticise Narendra Modi thinking they will be applauded by the double-chested and the Muslim terrorists, he would be beaten on the street,” Gopalakrishnan wrote.
He added: “Zacharia who enjoys the taste of his saliva has attacked poet Akkitham, writer Vishnu Narayanan Namboodiri, RSS ideologue P Parameswaran and now OV Vijayan and Narendra Modi, in the name of Hindutva. He is not talking about the confession box. He is not talking about Love Jihad. And now he has also insulted Modi as a killer. Can't allow this.”
When contacted, Zacharia said that he has not been directly threatened, but had read these posts.