With his hate speech, PC George is making headlines for all the wrong reasons
With his hate speech, PC George is making headlines for all the wrong reasons
Later A humiliating defeat in his home turf, Punjar assembly constituency last MayFrom where he had won seven times earlier, Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leader PC George was briefly out of political action. Now he is again in the political limelight, but for all the wrong reasons.
last week, that was sent to judicial custody After the court of the First Class Magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram canceled his bail in a case related to communally charged hate speech delivered at the Hindu Maha Sammelan on April 30 this year. Earlier, the court He was granted bail the same day he was arrested He was granted bail on May 1 from his residence in Erattupetta on the condition that he would not make such communal remarks in public. But 10 days after coming out on bail, Mr. George repeated abuses He built on “love jihad” and “overpopulation”, specifically against the Muslim community, at a temple function in Vennala, Kochi.
However, after spending a day in the Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. George was granted bail by the Kerala High Court In view of his health condition and status as a former MLA. While the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF condemned Mr. George’s statements, the Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supported him. It was also significant that Mr. George’s outrage occurred when the campaign for the Thrikkakara Assembly by-election was at its peak.
Significantly, the powerful Syro-Malabar Church was silent on his statements. Given the shadow of mistrust between the Christian and Muslim communities in Kerala by some organisations, this was widely interpreted as the Church’s subtle support for Mr. George.
However, the Metropolitan of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Yuhannon Mar Meletius of Thrissur diocese, lashed out at Mr George saying that no one had appointed him to represent the Christian community and that he was following the BJP’s line because He had no choice as to both. Congress and CPI(M) rejected him. But the Orthodox Syrian Church later distanced itself from the Metropolitan’s statement that it was his personal view.
As of now, Mr. George’s party is keen to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. But he is known for his unpredictability; During his long innings swapped political parties and alliances of his own free will. On several occasions, he supported the Social Democratic Party of India, the political incarnation of the Popular Front of India (PFI), known for its fundamentalism, and in turn, when he was elected as an independent candidate. fought, then he got its support. During the 2016 assembly elections
It now remains to be seen how the ideologically reprehensible Mr George works in tandem with an ideologically rigid but faction-ridden BJP, which is struggling to gain a foothold in Kerala politics. The BJP’s association with Mr. George should be read along with the party’s long-standing efforts to enter the Christian community in the state.
Statements by BJP leaders indicate that the party may use Mr George for temporary political gains as they know he has little influence among the Christian community. For the time being, it has secured a Christian leader to create a rift between minority communities in a state.
If the party is encouraging Mr George to say what its leaders could not, or would not dare to say, simply because they may use his hate speeches to create religious polarization for political gains In the end, Mr. George runs the risk of becoming a liability. for BJP.
biju.govind@thehindu.co.in