Kerala police on Tuesday, May 24 recorded the arrest of one person in connection with a case relating to hate slogans raised by a minor boy during a march organised by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in coastal Alappuzha, a video of which had gone viral. Erattupetta resident Anas was arrested and PFI district president Navas was placed under custody, police said. "We have recorded the arrest of the person who was carrying the child on his shoulders. Navas is under custody and is being questioned," police told PTI.
In the FIR, based on a complaint filed by a man named Vijayakumar PK, police have included various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Kerala Police Act and arraigned PFI Alappuzha district secretary Mujeeb and Navas as accused along with other identifiable persons.
The video of a boy sitting on the shoulder of a person during the "Save the Republic" rally held by the PFI in Alappuzha on May 21 and raising hate slogans has gone viral on social media.
Sections 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), 505 (1) (b) (act against the public tranquility), 505 (1) (c), 505 (2) and 506(criminal intimidation) of the IPC and 120 (o) of KP Act are included in the FIR.
The provocative sloganeering by the child has drawn flak from various quarters.
Leader of Opposition and Congress leader V D Satheesan has said that the stand of the government was "disappointing".
DYFI, the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M) had alleged that the sloganeering was part of the communal agenda of dividing secular Kerala.
The PFI, in an internal note, had claimed such slogans were against the policy of the outfit and would look into the matter.