A video showing a minor boy sitting on the shoulders of a man during a rally of the Popular Front of India (PFI) raising inflammatory slogans against other communities surfaced on social media on Monday, attracting sharp criticism from all quarters.
The PFI organised a meeting called ‘Save Republic Rally’ in Alappuzha on Saturday, in which hate slogans were raised by the boy, and others were seen lauding him. Police have registered a case against the PFI and the parents of the boy under section 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The boy was heard shouting to “keep enough rice and puffed rice (usually used during Hindu cremations) and keep enough incense (used by Christians during burial) in their homes”.
“Your Kalan (killer) is doing rounds. If you live in harmony, you can live here. Otherwise, we know what to do….” the boy was heard shouting in the video.After the video attracted enough condemnation, the PFI said the slogan was not part of the prepared text and that the organisation would look into it.
The BJP and Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference of India criticised the PFI for using a small boy to “spew venom” and sought action against the organisers of the rally.
Congress and the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) are yet to react. The BJP said both would only react after the by-poll in Thrikkakara on May 31, and it was another example of the “appeasement politics of the left parties.”
“An innocent child will not raise such poisonous slogans. He might have been trained to use such words. People around him were seen praising him. Such slogans will only widen the gap between communities, and they are not in tune with the secular fabric of the country,” said a spokesman of the KCBC.
Earlier, the apex child rights body NCPCR sought registration of an FIR against those responsible for allegedly letting a child raise provocative slogans during a political rally in Kerala.
In a letter to the Kerala Police chief, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said it has received a complaint over the child shouting slogans in Malayalam “in the sense of provocatively killing”.
“The flag of Popular Front of India (PFI) is clearly seen in the video. The complainant further alleged that even after this video is spread in society, Kerala Police is not taking any action against the parents of the kid and the PFI…,” the NCPCR said.
