Senior Kerala political leader PC George has been granted bail after being arrested for a communal and inflammatory speech against the Muslim community. ANI reported that George was granted conditional bail. The former MLA from Poonjar, who is also a former minister, was taken into custody by the police on Sunday, May 1 for making communal remarks against Muslims on Friday.
The Fort Police in Thiruvananthapuram took George into custody from his residence in Erattupetta in Kottayam district in the early hours of Sunday. The leader had kicked off a controversy by asking non-Muslims in the state to avoid restaurants run by the community. He said this while speaking at a programme organised as part of the ongoing Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelan in Thiruvananthapuram.
In his speech he also said that “tea laced with drops causing impotence” was sold in Muslim-run restaurants to turn people infertile in order to seize control of the country. This claim has already been debunked as fake news in the past. George even urged non-Muslims to boycott businesses run by Muslims.
George, 70, represented the Poonjar constituency in the state Assembly for 33 years.
Meanwhile opposition leader VD Satheesan alleged that there was a Sangh Parivar conspiracy behind George’s communal speech. Satheesan told the media that it was unfortunate that BJP workers could receive George while he was in custody. He also slammed the police for delaying the First Information Report on George. “The police registered the FIR only 24 hours after his speech. He was taken to Thiruvananthapuram in his own vehicle. The police allowed Sangh Parivar workers to wait on the wayside to greet him,” Satheesan said.
He also alleged that George was just a tool and that Sangh Parivar leaders were behind his actions. “With this the Sangh Parivar is trying to create a space for itself in the political and social arena of the state. Minority fundamentalist forces have taken the same approach. This is the end result of the communal appeasing policy of the Chief Minister and the CPI(M),” Satheesan said. He also said that what was happening in the name of Hindu Maha Sammelan was against the Hindu faith.
However, BJP leaders like state president K Surendran and former state president Kummanam Rajashekharan condemned George’s arrest. In separate statements, the leaders said that the Kerala police did not take action against those who had indulged in hate speeches in the past and that George was arrested only because he had spoken for the Hindu community.