The State police have indicted the editor of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece, Kesari, N. R. Madhu, for allegedly committing the offence of promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of communal harmony, as specified in Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by “denigrating” Ambedkarite rapper Hirandas Murali, aka Vedan, as a “caste terrorist”.
The Kizhakkekallada police in Kollam district registered a First Information Report (FIR) based on a complaint filed by a local secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], Velayudhan.
Mr. Madhu had allegedly portrayed Vedan, who hails from the Dalit community and goes by the official name as a “disreputable character” who makes a mockery of art and injects caste venom in society.
Mr. Madhu allegedly claimed that divisive forces and those who aspired to disintegrate the country backed Vedan. He decried temple management contracting Vedan for rhythm and poetry shows during festivals. He said they might as well hold “cabaret performances”. The police were examining whether Mr Madhu violated the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,
Mr. Madhu had come under flak for alleging that Kerala’s streets reeked of charred meat. Only Hindus died consuming shawarma, an Arabic dish consisting of thin slices of marinated meat, which has gained massive popularity in Kerala, and not “Christians or Muslims”.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said the RSS’s concept of “food purity” was closely linked to the Hindu majoritarian and feudal caste system, which reckoned consumers of meat – mostly from marginalised sections of society, Dalits, Christians and Muslims – as “polluted outcastes”.
Published – May 17, 2025 12:10 am IST
