Don’t forget Gujarat: BJP’s Overt Threat During Pro-CAA Rally in Kerala

In Kerala—a state ruled by coalition government led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]—the Bharatiya Janata Party is struggling to gather support for the divisive Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA. It has been organising public meetings in order to bend the public opinion.

In one of such campaigns by BJP at Kuttiady in Kozhikode district, the BJP-RSS activists took out a rally openly threatening the Muslims. Communal slurs were also reportedly used following a public gathering called ‘Save Democracy’ which had been inaugurated by the BJP state president MT Ramesh.

The protesting men could be seen shouting “Don’t you remember Gujarat? Keep that in mind before you take on us, you scoundrels!”. The slogans referred to the Gujarat anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the post of the chief minister of the state.

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Responding to the report that 58 Hindu pilgrims had been killed when a train carriage was set on fire, frenzied mobs across Gujarat targeted Muslims. More than 2,000 Muslims were killed in these riots and tens of thousands were displaced.

The protesters continued shouting more provocative slogans like “You bastard scoundrels, if you have one father, come out you dogs.” The motto of the programme was “not politics, country should be the priority”.

Following this march, shopkeepers in the neighbouring markets decided to shut their shops, boycotting the public meeting of the BJP. They left the area even before the programme started. The auto and taxi drivers too boycotted this event and left the market. The programme which had been inaugurated by the BJP state president was attended by only a few BJP and RSS activists.

Kerala Finance Minister and CPI(M) leader Thomas Isaac, in a Facebook post, said that it is this Islamophia that has seeped into the blood of Narendra Modi and a common BJP supporter that was on display there. “How long can they camouflage this?”

Pointing out the hypocrisy of the BJP, Isaac said: “On the one hand, BJP conducts public meetings and door to door campaigns to comfort Muslims, but on the other hand, they issue threats to Muslims asking them if they remember Gujarat.”

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“Nobody has forgotten Gujarat. We don’t intend to forget it and we will constantly remind people of it. That memory (Gujarat riots) is our greatest weapon to destroy BJP's communal agenda,” he wrote.

However, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) Kunnummal Block Committee has filed a complaint against the communal slogans that have been raised during the march. Following the complaint, so far, as many as 100 identifiable people have been booked under section 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) under the Indian Penal Code.

“The case has been registered against the entire rally. We are yet to identify the persons involved in the incident and arrest them,” an officer from the Kuttiady police station was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, this is not an isolated incident where those who oppose CAA have been threatened. On December 12, BJP’s West Bengal president had said that those involved in “damaging” the public property should be shot in the same way as they have been in Uttar Pradesh.

“The governments of Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka did the right thing by opening fire on these anti-national elements,” the BJP leader said referring to the police violence during the peaceful anti-CAA protests across these states.