Kerala leader PC George arrested over hate speech, Union MoS backs him

“The CPM had taken a stand that freedom of expression, right of expression, is there for everyone, including the right to raise anti-national slogans. When people raised anti-national slogans, CPM took a stand that this is a free country, this is a democratic country, everybody has the right to raise their opinion. P C George expressed his opinion. What was the hurry in arresting him?” Muraleedharan said.

On Friday, at the Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelan, George had alleged that restaurants run by Muslims should be avoided because they use “some kind of drops” that cause impotence. He also talked of “love jihad” and an “agenda to establish a Muslim country” by “sterilising men and women (of other faith)”.

On Sunday, after he was granted bail, George said he was sticking to what he had said at the event. “My arrest is (Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan’s Ramzan gift to extremist Muslims. I don’t want the vote of extremists,” he said.

The ruling CPM and Opposition Congress have criticised George for his remarks. The CPM demanded that George retract his statement and tender an apology. Congress leader V D Satheesan sought stringent action against his “hate speeches”.

Police had registered a case against George on charges of promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, and for acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. He was arrested from his residence in Poonjar in Kottayam district.

George is a six-time MLA and had last won in 2016 as an independent from Poonjar. He was earlier a member of KC(M), a Congress ally at the time, and was chief whip when the Congress-led UDF was in power. He lost from Poonjar in 2021.

On Sunday, Muraleedharan said he was prevented from meeting George at the state police’s Armed Reserve camp in Thiruvananthapuram, where the arrested politician had been held before being produced at the residence of the local magistrate.

“A Union Minister going inside the AR camp to meet the concerned officers; even for that, they denied permission. And they speak from rooftops about freedom of expression and democracy. This is doublespeak, this is hypocrisy, and I condemn that,” Muraleedharan said.

He also accused the Kerala Police of displaying undue haste in arresting George. He compared the situation with the aftermath of the killing of a BJP worker, A Sreenivasan, in Palakkad last month allegedly by a gang allegedly linked to the radical Muslim outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) as part of a suspected series of revenge attacks.

“The police didn’t show such a hurry in arresting them. So when Islamic terrorists kill somebody, there is no hurry. But if somebody else speaks something, then there is a hurry,” he said.

Sreenivasan, 45, was hacked to death on April 16 barely 24 hours after a local PFI leader, A Subair, was murdered in the district, allegedly by RSS men. So far, the police have arrested 13 people in the case, including two of the six-member gang that allegedly hacked the BJP worker to death.

Muslims and Christians are traditional vote banks of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala. Amidst the Congress slide, the BJP has been wooing Christians and playing into fears of many among the community of Islamic fundamentalism.

The hate speech by George is a departure for the 71-year-old who once enjoyed Muslim support in his pocketborough of Poonjar. It was after the 2016 Assembly win that George took a turn towards the BJP. In 2017, he floated a new party and became an ally of the NDA, which was looking for a Christian face in the state.

Of late, George has come to be known for his anti-Muslim attacks, including talking of “Muslims who bomb Christians”, a remark for which he later apologised.

At the sammelan on Friday, George had also targeted Lulu Group chief M A Yusuff Ali, accusing him of not building malls in Muslim-dominated areas of Kerala since he only “wants your money”. “You should not give a single coin to these institutions,’’ he had said.

On Sunday, George said he was withdrawing the statement against Ali. “He is a gentleman. What I wanted to convey is that if Yusuff Ali starts malls, small retail traders would end up in penury. I did not want to insult him,’’ he said.