The Kerala police on Sunday, May 1, prevented Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan from meeting former legislator PC George, who is in police custody at the Kerala Armed Police camp at Thiruvananthapuram. PC George was arrested in the early hours of Sunday from his residence in Kerala’s Kottayam district. The arrest followed a communal speech against Muslims that he had delivered during 'Ananathapuri Hindu Mahasammelan' on Thursday.
The Union Minister told the media that the Kerala government was “letting criminals, who have killed several people, go scot-free, but was arresting a public leader and a former legislator for a speech.”
Muraleedharan said, "What George said is his opinion. Kerala government under Pinarayi Vijayan is practising dual justice. Killers are roaming around freely while public workers, who have made a speech, are arrested. Several others have made such speeches but the police did not take any action."
PC George was arrested after a speech he made against the Muslim community at the 'Ananthapuram Hindu Maha Sammelan' led to major protests from the Muslim Youth League, Youth Congress, and the DYFI of the CPI(M). The arrest followed complaints by the Youth League and the DYFI.
BJP leaders like state president K Surendran and former state president Kummanam Rajashekharan have condemned the arrest of PC George. The BJP leaders, in separate statements, said that the Kerala police were not taking action against those who had earlier indulged in hate speeches and George was arrested only because he had spoken for the Hindu community.
Heavy police contingent was manning the state capital Thiruvananthapuram as several organisations have called for protests against George while the BJP and its youth wing Yuva Morcha have extended support to him. The court is on a holiday since it is a Sunday and senior police officers told IANS that George would be produced either online or at the chamber of the judicial first class magistrate.
The DYFI held a black flag demonstration in front of the Armed Reserve Police camp when George was taken inside the camp for questioning. Police could not prevent the DYFI workers from reaching the vehicle in which George was travelling and it was after a lot of force that the youth workers were removed from the scene.