Govt considers legal action against him for trying to saffronise Hindus
Thiruvananthapuram : A Kerala Ezhava leader’s move to saffronise the Hindus in the state has run into trouble with the state government considering legal against him for a hate speech he made during a march he is leading to bring all Hindus under one political platform.
The government has initiated the process against Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan (in pic) on the basis of a ‘communal’ speech he made during the ‘Samathwa Munnetta Yatra’ in Kochi on Sunday.
He courted controversy by saying that the assistance provided by the government to the family of an auto driver who died while attempting to save two workers trapped in a manhole in Kozhikode last week was because he was a Muslim.
The government had announced compensation of Rs10 lakh to the family of the auto driver, Naushad, besides a government job to his wife, considering his selfless act in trying to save the lives of two migrant labourers he did not know.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that leaders of various political parties had sought action against Natesan as the speech amounted to creating communal hatred. The minister said that he had directed the Home Secretary to examine his remarks and suggest a future course of action.
The SNDP leader had cited the assistance to Naushad’s family as an example of the government’s favouritism to the minority communities. He said that the government had shown no such concern to the family of three members of a school handball team who died in a road mishap in Malappuram district last week because they belonged to a different community.
Natesan is undertaking the march from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram as part of his efforts to float a third front in Kerala along with the BJP. Party national executive member Shobha Surendran backed Natesan saying that the government had done nothing to the family of a Hindu who was killed in an accident involving Social Justice Minister Dr M K Muneer’s escort.
Natesan’s remarks drew flak from various quarters. Condemning the remarks, leader of opposition V S Achuthanandan and CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan demanded his arrest.
