On 9th January, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) apprehended the first accused in the Kerala professor hand-chopping case. The significant breakthrough came as M Savad, a member of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI), was arrested by the central agency in Mattannur, Kerala, for his role in the brutal attack on Professor TJ Joseph in 2010.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the key and last absconding accused in Kerala’s Professor palm chopping case.
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) January 10, 2024
The agency said, the accused Savad, who had been on the run for the last 13 years and was carrying a reward of 10 lakh rupees was nabbed from Kannur in…
On 4th July 2010, Savad and his associates from PFI reportedly chopped the hands of Professor Joseph over the content of a question paper set by the professor at Newman College, Thodupuzha. The group of attackers, armed with lethal weapons, ambushed Joseph and chopped his right palm, an act that sent shockwaves across the country. The incident raised serious questions about religious extremism and academic freedom.
Savad was on the run for over 13 years and was the last remaining absconder in the case. Over 50 accused have already been arrested and charged in two separate phases. Notably, the arrest comes over a year after the Government of India banned PFI, an Islamic organisation linked to several violent activities, including an attack on Professor Joseph, several attacks and murders of Hindu activists and plans to impose Sharia law in India.
NIA took over the investigation of Professor Joseph’s case from Kerala Police and classified it as an act of terrorism. Stringent provisions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substances Act were invoked against the accused. In 2015, the NIA court in Kochi convicted 13 accused and acquitted 18 in the matter. Subsequent phases of the trial saw further convictions and acquittals.
The case
In March 2010, Malayalam Professor TJ Joseph prepared a set of questions for the Malayalam language paper for 2nd-year BCom students. Reportedly, one of the questions asked students to punctuate a conversation between God and a character.
The conversation was extracted from the book ‘Thirakathayude Reethisasthram‘ by Malayalam Director Kunju Muhammed.
The character in the passage was a man suffering from schizophrenia and having a constant dialogue with God. Without thinking much about the consequences, he named the man ‘Muhammed’ after the name of the Malayalam director.
However, Islamists were quick to label this as ‘blasphemy’ and interpreted the question as a conversation between Prophet Muhammad and God.
Later, the matter escalated further when the Jamaat-e-Islami-run newspaper, Madhyamam, reported about it. Subsequently, radical Islamic outfits such as the Popular Front of India (PFI), Campus Front of India (CFI), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and even the Congress party led large-scale protests against Professor TJ Joseph.
The Kerala Police lodged an FIR against Professor Joseph for stirring communal hatred under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Police arrested him when he allegedly tried to evade law enforcement authorities. However, he soon was released on bail.
To make matters worse, Newman College, which is a Christian minority institute affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University, fired Professor Joseph.
On the fateful day of 4th of July, 2010, Joseph, 53 years old back then, was returning home from church in his car at about 8 AM. His sister and mother accompanied him. Within no time, a gang of 6 Islamists laid siege to his car. Armed with an axe, they chopped off his hand below the wrist and ditched the severed part in a nearby land. The assailants also stabbed the Professor in the leg and arm.
The Islamists burst crackers and bombs to create an atmosphere of panic. They soon fled the crime scene, leaving an injured Joseph to fend for himself.
Professor Joseph claimed religious fundamentalism was at the heart of the problem
Professor Joseph was dismissed from the service over alleged blasphemy. After this, his financial condition deteriorated, and everyone abandoned his family. The church excommunicated his family. Friends and family members stopped visiting his house out of the church’s fear.
Distraught by the aftermath of the incident that turned the life of TJ Joseph upside down, his wife Salomi committed suicide on March 19, 2014.
In an interview with The Times of India in September 2021, Joseph refused to accept that punishing the accused would bring justice. He emphasised that religious fundamentalism was at the heart of the problem.
He said, “My attackers were blinded by fundamentalism, and they gave me only physical pain, but what my own people did to me was even worse as it affected my family and me in all ways.”
In 2020, Joseph’s memoir of the pain and suffering he endured over the false allegations of blasphemy was released in Malayalam. Its English translation by Nandkumar was later released under the title, “A Thousand Cuts: An Innocent Question and Deadly Answers”.
