Indian Union Muslim League leader P.K. Firos MLA strongly criticised the non-bailable case registered against Dr. Abdulla Basil on the basis of the complaint lodged by TV channel anchor Aparna Kurup. Firos was addressing a party conclave in Kozhikode on September 7, where he said that he had spoken to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala to suspend the case against Dr. Basil immediately.
Dr. Basil is the leader of Wisdom Islamic Organisation, Kerala and he is also the vice president of X and Y Learning and also an educator. Aparna Kurup is the Senior Coordinating Editor of Big TV Malayalam channel.
Firos said that his party would not allow anybody to hunt for anyone in connection with the strong onslaught against communalism. He said that the Muslim League had come to power for this.
As Firos rightly said, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala directed the authorities to suspend further police actions against Dr. Abdulla Basil.
Muslim outfits had alleged that the Home Ministry was hunting for Dr. Abdulla Basil for exposing the communal stands and comments.
Firos highlighted his party’s stand that Muslim League shares the power in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) to actively interfere in cases like this.
Another Muslim League leader Kanthapuram Najeeb also has criticised the police action.
Kochi Cyber Police had registered an FIR against Dr. Basil based on a complaint by BIG TV anchor Aparna Kurup, who alleged cyber death threats and cyber bullying following a television debate after Basil criticised her remarks during a TV discussion. The subject was concerning Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobaker Musaliyar’s anti-women statement.
Close on the heels of suspending the case against Dr. Basil, the Home Minister ordered an urgent probe into Dr. Basil’s counter-complaint filed against Ex Muslim leader Arif Hussain Theruvath for alleged promotion of hatred against religious beliefs.
Now, Aparna Kurup has been booked, on September 7, by the Kochi Cyber Crime Police over remarks she made during the show against Kanthapuram’s anti-women remarks. She has been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Kerala Police Act.
The police allege that the remarks were made in a manner that could deliberately hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims and lead to a breach of peace or communal disturbance.
BIG TV and Aparna subsequently issued an unconditional apology on September 1, saying that certain remarks made during the discussion should have been avoided and expressing regret if they had hurt anyone’s religious sentiments or beliefs. The apology, however, did not stop the online attacks against Aparna.
Now, withdrawal of the case against Dr. Abdulla Basil and registering the case against Aparna Kurup vindicate what P.K. Firos said on September 7: Both Chief Minister V.D. Satheeshan and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala do take orders from Muslim League in routine government matters.
