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The Alappuzha South police on Monday registered a case after a purported video in which a boy could be heard raising ‘provocative’ slogans reportedly during a march organised by the Popular Front of India (PFI) here last week went viral.
Alappuzha Deputy Superintendent of Police N.R Jayaraj said the case was registered against those who had brought the child to the rally and its organisers under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The video shows a boy, sitting on the shoulder of a man and chanting hate and incendiary slogans apparently against other religions. In the video, people around the child could also be heard repeating the slogans. After the video surfaced, District Police Chief G. Jaidev directed Alappuzha South police circle inspector S. Arun to conduct a preliminary investigation.
The provocative sloganeering has drawn widespread condemnation.
The PFI conducted a massive rally on the Alappuzha beach as part of its ‘Save the Republic’ campaign on May 21. Earlier in the morning, workers of the Bajrang Dal took out a motorcycle ‘Shaurya ’ rally in Alappuzha town against terrorism.
Following the rallies, the police had registered cases against Bajrang Dal and PFI workers for obstructing public way/line of navigation.
The two rallies and sloganeering come five months after the murders of leaders of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Bharatiya Janata Party — with communal overtones — rocked the district. SDPI State secretary K.S. Shan died after he was attacked by assailants in Mannancherry on December 18. Less than 12 hours after the murder of the SDPI leader, a gang hacked to death BJP’s OBC Morcha State secretary Ranjith Sreenivas in his house at Vellakinar in Alappuzha municipality the next morning.
The police have arrested several Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and PFI/SDPI activists in connection with the murders.
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