The Kerala Police has filed a case of sedition against Dr NR Madhu, the chief editor of Kesari magazine and a senior RSS Pracharak, over his remarks about singer Hiran Das Murali, alias Vedan. Hiran, a supporter of the CPI(M) has been accused of promoting caste-based extremism through his songs. Initially, certain Islamic groups attempted to target Pragya Pravah National Coordinator J Nandakumar for his criticism of the Islamic film Empuraan, but these efforts failed to gain public traction. Subsequently, attention turned to Dr Madhu. In his comments, Dr. Madhu alleged that Hiran was inciting terrorism against other castes under the guise of an anti-caste movement. He also stated in a speech delivered at a temple in Kollam district that there are forces behind these activities in the state.
Who is Vedan or Hiran Das Murali?
Hiran Das Murali is a talented singer from the Dalit community in Kerala. A hardcore left-leaning supporter, he was arrested for Ganja (cannabis) possession and admitted his mistake, asking for forgiveness. He also faced a case from the Kerala Forest Department for wearing a tiger tooth necklace. In 2021, Hiran was accused of sexual assault while working on Muhsin Parari’s album ‘From a Native Daughter’, leading the director to halt the project. Hiran apologized for the allegations. He has also been criticised for displaying the Palestinian flag at his events in support of Hamas. However, Hiran’s songs often deepen caste divisions within Hindu society.
Foreign-Islamist Backed Caste Divisions in Kerala -A Reality
Dr Madhu rightly warns that individuals like Hiran are being highlighted to fracture Kerala’s social fabric. A concerted effort by foreign-Islamic networks aims to deepen caste divisions, especially separating Dalit and OBC communities from the broader Hindu fold, and to weaken the Christian minority.
A prominent actor in this campaign in Kerala, for example, is the US-based Jai Bhim International, whose board includes Aruna Lohitakshi Sanghapali. Sanghapali is closely linked to US-based Equality Labs and to organisations such as the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Islamic Council of North America (ICNA), all of which enjoy support from financier George Soros. Equality Labs, founded in 2016 with Soros funding, has pushed caste narratives in India; since 2018, Sanghapali has co-organised multiple anti-India protests alongside former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and ex-Twitter legal head Vijaya Gadde, with media figures like NDTV’s Barkha Dutt participating. Dorsey, known for criticising Indian democracy and, allegedly in conjunction with the Biden administration, censoring nationalists, testified before the US House Oversight Committee in February 2023 on these matters.
Sanghapali also collaborates with the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), established in 2000. In India, IDSN partners with Gujarat’s Navsarjan Trust, whose FCRA licence was revoked by the Ministry of Home Affairs in December 2016 for taking foreign funds to incite caste violence. In Kerala, IDSN’s affiliates include a institution in Kalpetta (Wayanad), Chathannur (Kollam), two in Thiruvananthapuram, and one organisation claims to be promoting rationalist ideology. These entities operate in close coordination, forming part of a state-wide network intent on dividing Kerala along caste lines.
Sanghapali’s Equality Labs itself was originally founded in 2016 by Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a Tamil-origin activist who later worked with Soros’s Open Society Institute, and co-founders Sharmin Hossain and Valli Karunakaran (aka Marie Zwick Maitreyi). Hossain, of Bangladeshi-American background and daughter of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Mohammed Hossain, was named an Open Society Youth Exchange Fellow in 2015. Karunakaran directs TwoCircles.net, a portal jointly run by ICNA and IAMC, both rooted in Pak-Jamaat networks.
Another key figure is Natasha Dar, of Pakistani origin and granddaughter of Colonel Bashiruddin, a 1971 war criminal, through his daughter Huma Dar, a Pakistan-backed Kashmir-Khalistan advocate. Natasha serves as a liaison between Equality Labs, the Pakistan Jamaat, and Pakistan’s ISI. Since 2017, Equality Labs has drawn substantial foreign funding: US$50,000 from the Omidyar Network; US$477,025 in three tranches from the Open Society Foundation between 2018 and 2020; US$125,000 from the Ford Foundation in 2019; plus later grants of US$250,000 and US$150,000. Unofficial channels are alleged to have funded tens of millions more.
Kerala has long attracted foreign ideological interventions, particularly from Islamist and anti-India networks. There is rising concern that the Dalit League, linked to the Indian Union Muslim League, is mobilising Hindu Dalit leaders to sow internal divisions, rather than engaging Dalit Muslims. This tactic fits a wider strategy: a web of interconnected organisations in Kerala and beyond, backed by foreign-Islamic forces, working to destabilize India and drive Islamisation. Together, these activities, from Soros-funded caste campaigns and social-media protests to coordinated local groups, constitute a concerted, multi-layered effort to fracture Kerala’s society along religious and caste lines, validating Dr. Madhu’s caution that figures like Hiran are mere fronts for a deeper, foreign-driven agenda. However, what has been described so far is only the tip of the iceberg; the network of anti-national actors in Kerala runs far deeper and is far more extensive.
Reason for Filing a Case Against Kesari Editor, Dr Madhu
The Organiser had published a ‘news report’ highlighting the criticism surrounding Malayalam superstar Mohanlal’s participation in an event organised by ‘Gulf Madhyam’, a media outlet of Jamaat-e-Islami. However, the news report was misrepresented by several media outlets as an official article in Organiser and as the formal opinion of the RSS, thereby revealing the underlying anti-national agenda of Jamaat-e-Islami. In retaliation, Media One, the Kerala-based channel affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami, circulated false news targeting Pragya Pravah National Coordinator J. Nandakumar.
When these attempts failed to gain traction, they distorted and broadcast the speech of Dr NR Madhu. It is worth noting that the Central Government had previously suspended the broadcast of Media One for airing content deemed anti-national. Furthermore, Organiser and Kesari magazines were among the first to expose the agenda behind the actor Prithivraj-directed film Empuraan, which was backed by Islamic groups to sow division within society. The organiser also played a significant role in the campaign that led to the banning of the Popular Front of India (PFI). The recent targeting of J Nandakumar and Dr Madhu appears to be an act of vengeance by these groups, who oppose their continued efforts to raise awareness about issues such as love jihad, drug jihad, and cine jihad in Kerala. Rather than acting against these RSS pracharaks, the Kerala Police and the Left government should focus on identifying and taking action against the Islamic anti-national elements operating in Kerala, including those playing behind people like Hiran.
