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Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala police on Sunday arrested Janapaksham Party leader and former legislator P C George for his remarks against Muslims during a meeting of Hindu seers on Friday in the state capital. He was granted bail later in the day by the chief judicial magistrate court in Thiruvananthapuram.
George was arrested under Sections 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code. The charges, if proven, invite a three-year jail term.
Speaking at the Ananthapurai Hindu Mahasammelan on Friday, George had made inflammatory remarks on Muslim restaurant owners and stated that ‘Love Jihad’ — a term coined by some right-wing groups to explain interfaith marriage between Muslim boy and girl from other communities — was a reality. He had also attacked M A Yussuf Ali, owner of the Lulu group, saying his malls were putting small businessmen out of work.
George was arrested from his house in Poonjar (Kottayam) in the early hours of Sunday by a special team and taken to the state capital later. Though the police sought two-week judicial custody, the court said custodial interrogation was not necessary in such a case and granted George bail under strict conditions that he will not influence witnesses or make controversial statements.
“My arrest was CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s gift to fundamentalists. Both Congress and CPI(M) are concerned about their votes nothing else,” George said after his release. Saying he stood by most of his remarks at Friday’s event, George withdrew his statement against Yusuff Ali. “Ali is a gentleman,” he added.
While George was inside the police camp, authorities refused permission to Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan to meet the former legislator, a move that triggered protests.
“The left government is practising dual justice. Killers are roaming around freely but police arrest a public worker in the name of a speech. Several others have made such speeches in the past but they were not arrested,” Muraleedharan said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers later carried out rallies at several places to express their solidarity with George but CPI(M) youth wing DFYI burnt his effigies.
After George’s remarks on Friday became public, Muslim Youth League state president P K Firos had filed a complaint with the state police chief Anil Kant on Saturday saying his speech was laced with blatant hatred and he insulted the Muslim community.
Later, the ruling CPI(M) and Congress also decried George’s speech and asked him to apologise for hurting sentiments of a community. The BJP however, said some of his observations were right but the party would not subscribe to everything he said, party spokesman Sandeep Vachaspati
“We urge the people of Kerala to stand united and defeat all attempts to create a communal divide in the state. In Kerala, communal harmony is paramount and the Left front government will do everything possible to maintain it,” said the CPI(M) state secretariat on Saturday, deploring his speech.
But opposition leader V D Satheesan said George’s arrest and subsequent release were “a drama enacted by the government and Sangh Parivar. “After his arrest, while he was being taken to Thiruvananthapuram, RSS-BJP workers presented him with shawls at several places and later, he was charged under bailable sections,” he said.
George who represented Poonjar assembly constituency for more than 25 years, started his career with the Kerala Congress, a regional party dominated by Christians. In 2017, he formed a new party Kerala Janapaksham and aligned with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. A staunch critic of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, he was defeated in the 2021 assembly elections by K Sebastian of the Kerala Congress (Mani), LDF constituent.
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