The Kerala Police on Tuesday booked Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary and spokesperson Anil Antony for a hate comment on social media about burqa-clad women.
The case pertains to a viral video of some students protesting against a bus for not halting at the their college. Antony shared the post on X with a comment: “No bus rides without a burqa in northern Kerala”. Soon the video went viral. Many Hindutva handles shared the video with Islamophobic comments.
The Kasaragod Cyber Cell, led by Circle Inspector P.P. Narayanan, is investigating the case.
Another Hindutva activist, Anandi Nair, was also booked in the case.
Antony has been booked under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint filed by M.T. Siddharthan with the District Police Chief. Section 153A deals with the non-bailable offence of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth or residence.
The police action against Antony follows an FIR against Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar for hate speech.
He was booked for Islamophobic statements made on social media about the blasts near Kochi and an unrelated Palestine solidarity event organised by a Muslim group in Malappuram district in which a former Hamas chief addressed the audience virtually. According to the FIR, Chandrasekhar posted statements and videos on social media with the intention of disrupting the communal harmony in Kerala and inciting violence.
