A Malayali author has received a threatening letter that asks him to convert to Islam within 6 months, failing which his right arm and left leg would be chopped off.
The author KP Ramanunni, who is also a lecturer in a women’s college, has filed a police report with the Kozhikode city police commissioner on Friday. He is a novelist and short story writer and has been awarded various accolades like Kerala Sahitya Academy Award and Vayalar Award. The author is based in Kozhikode.
The letter was reportedly delivered to him about a week back and is believed to have been posted from Manjeri in Malappuram district. Initially he had ignored the letter, but finally took action after being advised to do so by senior writers.
According to local media reports, the letter had arrived via Indian Post and was in response to an article written by the author, where he had compared Hindus and Muslims. The letter had reportedly alleged that he was ‘misleading’ innocent Muslims and should desist from such actions.
This is reportedly what the letter stated:
Like TJ Joseph, your right arm will be cut off, your left leg too. You are given six months to convert to Islam. If you do not embrace Islam, we will inflict Allah’s punishment on you
The TJ Joseph referred to in the said letter is a Malayali professor who was attacked by activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI), which is a Islamic fundamentalist organisation. The incident took place on 4th July 2010 when he was returning from a local church. The radicals had then pulled him out of the car and chopped his right hand off. The issue had began when he had put a question during exams, which allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammed.
The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has meanwhile said that he and his government won’t spare the perpetrators of such threats.
It remains to be seen how effective the promise of the Chief Minister turns out to be, for he has been unable to stop the killings of RSS workers by alleged CPM backed goons in his own district of Kannur. Not just that, there have also been allegations that he had even supported such killings in the past.
