A case has been registered against Malayalam news channel Reporter and its journalist Sujaya Parvathy for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion during their coverage of the blasts in Kochi’s Kalamassery on Sunday, October 29. The First Information Report (FIR) was filed by the Thrikkakara police under sections 153 (wantonly give provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), and 34 (criminal act by several persons with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, and section 120(o) (causing, through any means of communication, a nuisance) of the Kerala Police Act.
The complainant, Yasir Arafath, said that the accused tried to destroy the communal harmony in Kerala and create riots through their reportage on the blasts. He accused Reporter channel and Sujaya of connecting the incident to the Palestine genocide and dragging the Muslim community into it to create communal divisions in the society.
Multiple blasts occurred at a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention held in Kalamassery, killing three people, including a 12-year-old girl, and injuring more than 30 others. The police had immediately warned against any provocative posts or reports regarding the incident that might disturb communal harmony. The Deputy General of Police Sheikh Darvesh Sahib said that strict action would be taken against fake messages, after a few posts were circulated confusing Jehovah’s Witnesses for Jews and implying that the perpetrators were Muslim sympathisers of the Palestinian cause. However, a man called Dominic Martin soon surrendered to the police, taking responsibility for the attacks. He was a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses but was disillusioned by its teachings, he claimed.
Read: Who is Dominic Martin, the man who claimed responsibility for Kerala blasts?