The Popular Front of India’s rally in Kerala’s Alappuzha sent shockwaves of alert with many flagging deep-rooted Islamist extremism in Kerala. The videos of the PFI rally that went viral on the internet prompted the police to take cognizance of the incendiary sloganeering witnessed during the protest when participants threatened Hindus and Christians with dire consequences if they did not live peacefully in the country.
However, The News Minute, a digital media organisation based out of Bengaluru, was quick to rush in the defence of the Islamists, whitewashing their murderous tendencies and rationalising the menacing slogans made against Hindus and Christians. A report published in The News Minute justified the inflammatory slogans saying that they were directed towards ‘Sanghis’, asking them to live ‘properly’ or they will have to get ready for their final rites.
With such assertion, PFI’s Jihadist threats that highlight the religious nature of the war it is waging against Hindus and in this case, Christians as well were whitewashed. With the TNM report, we were made to realise that the extremism was political in nature and not a religious one. Hindus were stereotyped as ‘Sanghis’ – a hateful monicker for supporters of the BJP or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)—and considered fair game for the Islamists to abuse and attack as per their whims. The TNM report alluded that the slogans, which were patently violent and provocative in nature, were completely acceptable since they were directed towards ‘Sanghis’, an artificial distinction that the Left had created to confuse ordinary Hindus into believing that the hatred is not aimed towards them.
Moreover, the slogans were merely depicted as ‘provocative’, meaning – they would provoke a reaction from the other side. The disturbing Islamist nature of the incident was further swept under the carpet when the news portal described the PFI demonstration as a ‘rally protesting against the RSS’. The source given for this claim was a quote by PFI state secretary CA Raoof in an internal note released by the radical outfit to the media.
Despite PFI’s known security threat potential to the nation in communalising the discourse with Islamism, The News Minute toed its propaganda while the threats for Hindus and Christians were given in open. The whitewashing of Islamist activities, at the cost of Hindu and Christian, lives in Kerala should not come as a surprise at a time when the 18th-century tyrant Tipu Sultan, who massacred Hindus and Syrian Christians in Malabar is hailed as a national hero.
At a PFI rally in Alappuzha, Muslim boy chants for death to Hindus, offering ‘Sujood’ at Babri again
In one of the two videos that went viral on social media, a boy can be seen shouting, “Be ready for your death rituals if you won’t live in our land quietly. Be ready with rice flakes to fill your mouth, if you won’t live quietly (For Hindus). Be ready to burn amber in your home if you won’t live quietly (For Christians).” This came as a direct threat to the Hindu and Christian population living in Kerala, with PFI warning the death penalty if they don’t fall in line.
Further, the boy said, “We are coming, we are your death. We won’t go to Pakistan or Bangladesh, you have to live here as we say, or else we know how to make you live quietly, we will kill you even if we are attacked. We take pride in being a martyr, we salute them. If you won’t live quietly, we know how to ask for ‘Azadi’. Be prepared for your death,” the PFI members shouted after the boy in Malayalam.
Besides, the mob also vowed to conduct ‘Sujood’ ( kind of prayer ) in the disputed building of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya again. Also, they have decided to continue ‘Sujood’ in the disputed structure called ‘Gyanvapi Mosque’ which is built on the ruins of a temple in Varanasi. They said they are not leaving for Pakistan or Bangladesh and if they do so, they will take the Sangh Parivar along with them
