The extraordinary public support that poured out in his favour at a time when widespread speculation suggested that the Congress high command might consider alternative candidates for the Chief Ministership revealed that his legitimacy had moved beyond mere organisational arithmetic. His popularity emerged through two political strategies that liberal politicians often hesitate to adopt openly. On the one hand, he cultivated a partially anti-neoliberal political language regarding state expenditure, public welfare, and social protection, reassuring ordinary people that welfare measures, subsidies, pensions, and social support systems would not be dismantled in the name of fiscal discipline. On the other hand, he sharply distanced himself from sectarian caste calculations and the overt pressure politics of dominant community organisations that have historically exercised influence over both the UDF and LDF. This combination gave him credibility among sections of the middle class, lower middle class, youth, minorities, and welfare-dependent populations who increasingly fear both aggressive neoliberal restructuring and majoritarian politics.

At the national level too, as the Indian National Congress intensified its confrontation with the Modi government, Satheesan appeared to internalise that oppositional spirit. He did not soften his criticism of the Modi apparatus of power, centralisation, federal pressure tactics, and the expanding ideological influence of Hindutva politics. Unlike many regional leaders who tactically maintain ambiguity, he often spoke in direct political terms, which contributed to his image as a confident opposition leader capable of confronting centralised authority.

However, the challenges before him are enormous. Electoral promises regarding welfare expansion, social protection, employment generation, rising living costs, healthcare, public education, infrastructure, and development will now have to move from rhetoric into governance. He will have to negotiate the pressures exerted by the Modi government through financial control, administrative leverage, central agencies, and the increasingly aggressive posture of the BJP’s Keralam unit. At the same time, he will face an extremely vigilant and politically experienced LDF opposition and its frontal organisations, which will not tolerate any dilution of welfare commitments or visible capitulation to central pressure. Internal dissensions within the Congress and coalition management will remain another continuing challenge.

Despite the several pitfalls and political failures of the previous Left Democratic Front government that eventually contributed to its defeat — issues that the party and its cadre are now reportedly examining with seriousness — one important strategic direction evolved during that period should not be abandoned. The attempt to balance anti-neoliberal welfare politics with large-scale infrastructure expansion, public investment, and calibrated capital inflow represented a significant and imaginative political-economic experiment within the constraints of contemporary federal India. Keralam’s future cannot lie either in crude market fundamentalism or in a stagnant developmental conservatism incapable of generating employment, technological growth, and infrastructural modernisation. The challenge before the new government is therefore not to dismantle that developmental balance, but perhaps to refine it more democratically, transparently, and efficiently while preserving Keralam’s welfare commitments, social indicators, and relatively egalitarian social ethos. More than anyone else, a liberal leader like V. D. Satheesan would recognise that the contributions of the LDF are not something to be discarded or forgotten, but to be critically examined, reassessed, and refined in pursuit of better future outcomes.

Yet the ultimate challenge before V. D. Satheesan lies elsewhere. However progressive his instincts may be, he still operates within the structural and ideological limits of the liberal-democratic framework represented by the Indian National Congress and the United Democratic Front. There are institutional compulsions, entrenched interest groups, coalition pressures, electoral calculations, and inherited political taboos that no leader within that framework can easily transcend. Keralam’s liberal politics functions within a relatively ossified structure in which welfare commitments, development aspirations, market compulsions, caste-community negotiations, coalition management, and Centre-State dependencies are held together through delicate balancing acts rather than through deeper structural transformation.

This creates a fundamental contradiction. A leader may articulate socially progressive positions, defend secularism, support welfare expansion, and even criticise aggressive neoliberalism, but the political system itself imposes limits on how far such positions can be translated into policy. The compulsions of attracting investment, maintaining fiscal discipline under neoliberal federalism, accommodating dominant social blocs, and surviving within coalition arithmetic often restrict the possibility of more radical redistributive or democratic interventions. In that sense, the problem is not merely individual leadership, but the narrowing horizon of liberal politics itself under contemporary capitalism.

He is known to be a voracious reader with wide exposure to literature, political thought, and contemporary debates, and this has enabled him to establish a rapport with writers, artists, public intellectuals, and progressive cultural figures in a manner rarely seen among liberal political leaders today. He often identifies himself broadly with a Nehruvian-Left democratic orientation. More important than ideological labels, however, is his ability to resonate with progressive currents within Keralam’s public sphere that continue to value secularism, civil society freedoms, environmental concerns, democratic dissent, and human rights. This cultural credibility may become politically significant in a period when Keralam itself faces difficult questions regarding development, ecological vulnerability, minority rights, and the future of democratic public culture.

At the same time, the excessively celebratory tone adopted by sections of the media may itself become a source of future difficulty for him. Keralam’s media culture has a tendency to rapidly construct heroic political narratives around leaders during moments of transition, often inflating expectations beyond what any government can realistically deliver within existing structural constraints. Such overflowing adulation can quickly turn into impatience, scrutiny, and disappointment once governance confronts the inevitable realities of fiscal limitations, bureaucratic inertia, coalition pressures, environmental conflicts, and public dissent. In that sense, media-driven personalisation of political success may unintentionally weaken the very leadership it seeks to glorify by transforming complex structural challenges into questions of individual performance and charisma. Satheesan’s real political brilliance will lie in how carefully he navigates this slippery path.

Beyond electoral politics, Keralam itself faces a new developmental crossroads. Questions of ecological sustainability, environmental vulnerability, urban expansion, climate-related disasters, public transport, digital infrastructure, and the future of welfare-oriented development demand serious attention. The expectation is not merely administrative continuity, but innovation in governance and a new developmental imagination suited to Keralam’s changing social realities.

At this moment, however, he deserves congratulations for achieving what many considered politically improbable. Against considerable odds, he succeeded in sustaining public expectations and translating them into an extraordinary mandate. He now carries the aspirations of millions of ordinary Malayalis who look towards the new government with hope — for improved living standards, humane governance, welfare assurances, and a development model capable of combining social justice with infrastructural transformation. Whether he will ultimately live up to these expectations remains to be seen, but the scale of the trust placed in him is itself politically significant in an age marked everywhere by democratic fatigue and public cynicism.

Courtesy: The AIDEM

The post V.D Satheesan and the Challenges Before a Liberal Leader in Keralam appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Rather than emerging organically from local and lived religious practice, it sought to recast a historically plural, socially embedded river into a singular sacred geography, flattening its layered cultural, ecological and political meanings into a uniform religious spectacle.

The analogy with the Kumbh Mela is particularly revealing. In North India, the Kumbh is anchored in centuries-old institutional frameworks involving akharas, monastic orders, ritual calendars and cosmological cycles that have evolved through long-standing social consent. Bharatapuzha, by contrast, has never functioned as a Pan-Hindu pilgrimage centre. It has no historical association with mass ritual bathing, no priestly networks that regulate sacred time, and no inherited mythological mandate that binds the river to cyclical purification rites. The invocation of “Magha” rituals, the language of sin, cleansing and rebirth, and the visual grammar of saffron spectacle are recent insertions, introduced through publicity materials, digital campaigns and political speeches rather than through inherited community practice. What is being staged is not continuity but construction.

The presence of constitutional authority at the inauguration was therefore not incidental. It conferred institutional legitimacy on an invented ritual format, transforming a curated spectacle into an authorised public act, much as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of the newly constructed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya did. In Kerala, where religious expression has historically coexisted with strong secular institutions, such gestures alter the delicate balance between faith and governance. State endorsement converts cultural experimentation into an assertion of civilisational authenticity. The river becomes not merely a site of gathering but a stage on which new claims to cultural ownership are rehearsed and normalised.

Attempts to anchor the Mahotsavam in history frequently invoke Mamankam, the medieval assembly held periodically near the Bharatapuzha. Yet this historical analogy collapses under scrutiny. Mamankam bore little resemblance to the religious spectacle being staged today. It was neither a Hindu religious congregation nor a ritualised conflict between faiths. It was a political assembly centred on sovereignty, territorial control and the public contestation of kingship. Held once every twelve years, Mamankam was the site where the Zamorin of Calicut asserted his authority even as it was violently challenged by the Valluvanad rulers through the Chaver warriors. These warriors, drawn from specific lineages, attempted ritualised assassinations of the Zamorin, transforming the assembly into a theatre of political resistance. The purpose was not spiritual sacrifice but the destabilisation of power.

Equally central to Mamankam was its plural social composition. Muslim traders, soldiers and administrators were integral to the Zamorin’s political and economic base. Calicut’s emergence as a maritime hub depended on sustained alliances with Arab merchants, and these relationships were embedded in the very structure of power that Mamankam symbolised. To retrospectively frame Mamankam as a Hindu cultural ritual is to erase these realities and impose a communal lens that did not exist in the historical moment. Mamankam was not organised around ritual bathing, mantra recitation or priestly hierarchies. Its rituals were inseparable from warfare, trade negotiations, artistic performances and displays of military prowess.

Thus, translating Mamankam into the idiom of the Kumbh Mela strips away its political and plural character, replacing it with a homogenised religious narrative that is easier to mobilise but historically indefensible.

What distinguishes the Maha Magha Mahotsavam from earlier cultural events in Kerala is the scale and sophistication of its digital mobilisation. Social media platforms have been used not merely to publicise the festival but to frame it as a corrective to an alleged cultural suppression of Hindus in the state. This rhetoric borrows heavily from the national Hindutva lexicon, where visibility is equated with revival and dissent is recast as hostility to faith. Online narratives repeatedly position Malappuram district as a site of cultural imbalance, invoking its Muslim-majority demography to suggest that Hindu traditions require assertive reclamation. This portrayal is not new. Malappuram has long been marked in political discourse as an exception within Kerala, often detached from its historical contributions to trade, education and anti-colonial resistance. By situating a major “Hindu” event at the district’s symbolic edge, the festival implicitly marks territory.

On the ground, this rhetoric has tangible consequences. Local accounts point to heightened communal sensitivity, with Muslim residents expressing discomfort at the language used in promotional material and commentary. Pluralism is not attacked directly; it is simply bypassed. The idea of a “Hindu awakening” advanced here does not celebrate Kerala’s syncretic traditions but seeks to replace them with a uniform cultural script. In doing so, it narrows the definition of belonging and reimagines public space as an arena of assertion rather than coexistence.

Beyond ideology, the Mahotsavam raises pressing questions about environmental stewardship and public safety. Bharatapuzha is among Kerala’s most endangered rivers, its flow depleted by dams, sand mining and encroachment. Large-scale gatherings on its banks inevitably place additional stress on an already fragile ecosystem. The controversy surrounding the proposed temporary bridge illustrates the tension between spectacle and regulation. The stop memo was issued on procedural and safety grounds, including the absence of clearances and concerns over construction in a sensitive river zone. Yet sections of social media discourse reframed this administrative action as a cultural or communal slight, despite no such intent or basis in official orders. This episode highlights a deeper challenge for Kerala: how routine governance decisions are increasingly vulnerable to politicisation when wrapped in the language of faith.

Further, stampedes at religious events have demonstrated how inadequate crowd management, infrastructural shortcuts and political pressure to maximise attendance can result in tragedy. Kerala’s administrative machinery has limited experience managing events of this scale, particularly in ecologically sensitive zones. There is also the question of precedent.

Once a river is reimagined as a ritual bathing site, pressure mounts to repeat and expand such events. Environmental damage then becomes cumulative, justified in the name of a tradition that did not previously exist.

Organisers describe the Maha Magha Mahotsavam not as a culmination but as a beginning, frequently invoking 2028 as the moment when the initiative will reach its full symbolic and participatory scale. This long-term vision underscores the political nature of the project. Cultural transformation is not achieved through singular events but through repetition and institutional backing that generate familiarity; familiarity hardens into memory, and memory eventually masquerades as antiquity. This is how invented traditions become heritage.

Kerala’s historical strength has been its resistance to such flattening. Its public culture has accommodated religious expression without allowing any single narrative to monopolise history or space. The remaking of Bharatapuzha challenges this equilibrium by privileging one interpretation of the past while marginalising others. What is at stake is not merely the character of a festival but the future grammar of Kerala’s public life. Whether history is engaged as a complex inheritance or reduced to a tool of mobilisation depends on how society responds now.

Supporters present the Mahotsavam as spiritual renewal and a gateway to religious tourism, promising economic visibility and regional development. These claims cannot be dismissed outright. Kerala has long benefited from cultural tourism, and pilgrimage economies can generate livelihoods. Yet spiritual tourism is never purely economic. It reorganises space, privileges certain narratives and fixes meaning in ways that are difficult to reverse. When rituals are newly assembled rather than inherited, tourism risks converting memory into spectacle and communities into bystanders to a story told about them rather than with them.

What is unfolding along the Bharatapuzha is not a disagreement over faith but a struggle over authority: who defines culture, how memory is institutionalised, and which identities are permitted to feel native in shared spaces.

The Maha Magha Mahotsavam marks a shift from lived tradition to curated symbolism, where culture becomes less an expression of social life and more a claim to power. In this transformation, history is not engaged as complexity but recruited as an instrument.

The costs are cumulative. Socially, curated spirituality narrows belonging and renders dissent suspect. Environmentally, rivers turned into ritual stages are subjected to pressures that sanctity cannot mitigate. Historically, selective storytelling flattens the past, replacing layered inheritance with simplified images designed for mobilisation. What is lost is not only accuracy but the ethical discipline of living with contradiction.

Kerala’s pluralism was never ornamental. It was forged through negotiation, overlap and unresolved differences. The remaking of Bharatapuzha tests whether that inheritance will endure or yield to a politics that prefers clarity over truth. Culture can evolve, and tourism can coexist with tradition, but only when history remains a conversation rather than a commodity, and public space remains a site of coexistence rather than conquest.

(The author is an Indian author, political analyst and columnist. His debut book, The Essential (2023), was launched by Dr. Shashi Tharoor and features a foreword by former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. His research and commentary have appeared in IJPA, Global Policy Journal, South Asian Voices, ORF, The Unpopulist, SAGE, among others, and leading dailies.He posts on ‘X’ at @ens_socialis)

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Satheesan has registered his strong protest at the arrests in Nagpur on allegations of forced religious conversion. The letter states that twelve individuals, including Father Sudhir, a priest of the CSI South Kerala Diocese, Nagpur Mission, and his wife Mrs. Jasmine, were reportedly arrested by the Maharashtra Police following a complaint filed by Bajrang Dal activists. The arrests were made while a Christmas prayer meeting was being conducted in Nagpur at around 8.00 p.m. last night. Subsequently, those who came to the police station to enquire about the incident were also taken into custody, and cases were registered against them.

Father Sudhir, the open letter states is a native of Amaravila in Thiruvananthapuram district, has been serving in Maharashtra for the past five years. The remaining ten individuals arrested are natives of Maharashtra. The letter also states that it is learned that all the arrested persons are currently being detained at the Benoda Police Station and are likely to be produced before the court shortly. Although representatives of the CSI attempted to secure bail at the police station, they were directed to approach the court.

Satheesan states that “this incident is deeply disturbing and raises serious concerns about the violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India, particularly the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate religion. Arresting individuals for conducting a peaceful prayer meeting is unconstitutional and contrary to the spirit of our democratic and secular values.”

“On behalf of the people of Kerala, I express my strong protest against this unjust action. I earnestly request your immediate intervention to ensure the release of all those arrested and to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.”

Arresting 12 people, including Malayalipriest Fr. Sudhir, during Christmas prayer meeting in #Nagpur based on a BajrangDal complaint is deeply disturbing. I have written to the @PMOIndia & @CMOMaharashtra, protesting this injustice& urging immediate intervention for their release pic.twitter.com/7MPRRgnXTN

— V D Satheesan (@vdsatheesan) December 31, 2025

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Writing to make this communication public, John Brittas, on “X” says,

“Government offices are not ideological platforms. Introducing “RSS Ganageetham” into an official Christmas celebration violates constitutional secularism and insults minority faiths. It was a deliberate attempt to appropriate or overshadow a religious celebration with an unrelated ideological agenda. “Patriotism” does not flow from allegiance to any ideological organisation, but from fidelity to the Constitution of India. Wrote yesterday to the Union Communications Minister seeking immediate intervention. Now, instead of rejecting an unreasonable ideological demand, the Postal Department has cancelled the Christmas celebration itself – effectively punishing employees for speaking up. In trying to appease the aggressor while silencing the aggrieved, the administration has chosen the path of “comforting the strong and disciplining the vulnerable.” The question is unavoidable: who has this decision truly served – the BMS affiliated union, or employees who only sought to observe Christmas celebration with dignity?”

Government offices are not ideological platforms. Introducing “RSS Ganageetham” into an official Christmas celebration violates constitutional secularism and insults minority faiths. It was a deliberate attempt to appropriate or overshadow a religious celebration with an… pic.twitter.com/LJRRZxqd0T

— John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) December 18, 2025

In this letter to the Union Minister, J, Scindia, posted on social media, Brittas writes,

“I write to draw your good self’s urgent attention to a deeply disturbing request reportedly submitted by a right-wing employees’ union in the Kerala Circle the Bharatiya Postal Administrative Offices Employees Union, affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and BPEF] seeking permission to render an ideological song identified with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS Ganageetham) during the official Christmas celebrations scheduled to be organised on December 18, 2025 at the Circle office.

“At the outset, I wish to emphasise that Christmas is a sacred religious festival for the Christian community, observed in India not merely as a cultural occasion but as an expression of faith, inclusiveness, and goodwill. To seek to introduce, within such a religious celebration organised in a government office, a song explicitly associated with a partisan ideological organisation is not only inappropriate, but also profoundly insensitive and against the constitutional principles. It represents an avoidable intrusion of sectarian politics into a space meant for harmony, respect, and collective celebration.

“The contents of the union’s letter, including its repeated invocation of “patriotism” as a justification, are particularly troubling. Patriotism does not flow from allegiance to any ideological organisation, but from fidelity to the Constitution of India, its secular character, and its guarantee of equality and dignity to all citizens. To equate patriotism with the symbols or songs of a particular ideological formation is to narrow and distort the very idea of the nation.

“It is equally pertinent to note that government offices are constitutionally bound to remain ideologically neutral. Introducing RSS-associated content into a function, especially one linked to a minority religious festival, violates the long-established conventions of civil-service neutrality and risks conveying an impression of official endorsement of a particular ideology.

“Kerala has a proud history of religious coexistence and mutual respect. Christmas celebrations in government institutions in the State have traditionally been inclusive, voluntary, and secular in spirit, reflecting India’s composite culture rather than privileging or inserting any ideological narrative. The present request, if acceded to, would mark a dangerous departure from that tradition. More importantly, such an act would be perceived as an insult to the faith of Minority communities and as a deliberate attempt to appropriate or overshadow a religious celebration with an unrelated ideological agenda.

The full text of the letter may be read here:

MPRS/12/1733/2025

17.12.2025

Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia

Hon’ble Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region

Government of India

Respected Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia Ji,

Sub: Kerala Postal Circle – Protest against attempt to impose sectarian ideology during

Christmas celebrations – Objection to the proposal to render ideologically affiliated song during official Christmas celebrations – RSS Ganageetham – reg:

I write to draw your good self’s urgent attention to a deeply disturbing request reportedly submitted by a right-wing employees’ union in the Kerala Circle the Bharatiya Postal Administrative Offices Employees Union, affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and BPEF] seeking permission to render an ideological song identified with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS Ganageetham) during the official Christmas celebrations scheduled to be organised on December 18, 2025 at the Circle office.

At the outset, I wish to emphasise that Christmas is a sacred religious festival for the Christian community, observed in India not merely as a cultural occasion but as an expression of faith, inclusiveness, and goodwill. To seek to introduce, within such a religious celebration organised in a government office, a song explicitly associated with a partisan ideological organisation is not only inappropriate, but also profoundly insensitive and against the constitutional principles. It represents an avoidable intrusion of sectarian politics into a space meant for harmony, respect, and collective celebration.

The contents of the union’s letter, including its repeated invocation of “patriotism” as a justification, are particularly troubling. Patriotism does not flow from allegiance to any ideological organisation, but from fidelity to the Constitution of India, its secular character, and its guarantee of equality and dignity to all citizens. To equate patriotism with the symbols or songs of a particular ideological formation is to narrow and distort the very idea of the nation.

It is equally pertinent to note that government offices are constitutionally bound to remain ideologically neutral. Introducing RSS-associated content into a function, especially one linked to a minority religious festival, violates the long-established conventions of civil-service neutrality and risks conveying an impression of official endorsement of a particular ideology.

Kerala has a proud history of religious coexistence and mutual respect. Christmas celebrations in government institutions in the State have traditionally been inclusive, voluntary, and secular in spirit, reflecting India’s composite culture rather than privileging or inserting any ideological narrative. The present request, if acceded to, would mark a dangerous departure from that tradition. More importantly, such an act would be perceived as an insult to the faith of Minority communities and as a deliberate attempt to appropriate or overshadow a religious celebration with an unrelated ideological agenda.

I therefore earnestly request your good self to intervene forthwith and issue urgent explicit directions to the Department of Posts, Kerala Circle, not to accede to the request reportedly made by the Bharatiya Postal Administrative Offices Employees Union to render RSS Ganageetham during the official Christmas function in Kerala Circle scheduled for tomorrow.

Thanking you.

Yours faithfully,

John Brittas

Copy to:

1. The Secretary, Department of Posts, New Delhi
2. The Chief Postmaster General, Kerala Circle, Thiruvananthapuram

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Academy chairman Resul Pookutty confirmed that the films will be screened as per schedule. “We are going ahead with all the film screenings as scheduled. We will fight this out. We want the IFFK and its spirit to be saved,” Pookutty told Onmanorama.

For the first time in the history of the prestigious film festival, the Central government had insisted on MEA sanction to screen a select bunch of films at IFFK. The pending censorship exemption for 19 films has prompted cancellations and schedule revisions, sparking protests.

On Tuesday, December 16, four films were given exemption, but clearance for 15 films was put on hold. Academy officials said the films for which clearance is being withheld include old classics, restored versions, Palestinian movies, Sri Lankan films, and previous winners at the IFFK.

In the first instance, on December 16, Marian Alexander Baby, the general secretary of the state’s ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) told the media that The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has denied the 2025 International Film Festival of Kerala permission to screen 19 films. The list includes films about Palestine. The event in Thiruvananthapuram began on December 12 and will conclude on December 19.

According to rules it is reported that, films without a censorship certificate require an exemption from I&B to be screened at film festivals. The procedure outlined is that festival organisers submit applications with a synopsis and get an exemption certificate. IFFK organisers said they submitted applications with film summaries 10 days prior to the start of the festival. Pookutty had earlier told Onmanorama that he had reached out to Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar to find a solution.

Four films given exemption after an initial ban:  Beef, Eagles of Republic, Heart of the Wolf, once upon a time in Gaza. Palestine 36, an Arabic and English language movie, was the inaugural film of the event. On December 12, at the inauguration ceremony, Kerala’s Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian had spoken about the state’s support for the Palestinian cause. Palestinian Ambassador to India Abdallah M Abu Shawesh was a guest at the event.

At the inauguration of the festival on December 12, while paying tribute to director Shaji N Karun, who was associated with the festival until his death in April 2025, Cherian also said that the festival was a platform that “resists fascism and autocracy while celebrating freedom of speech and creative expression”. Reported Scroll.in.

Films to be screened without censorship exemption

1. A Poet: Unconcealed Poetry
2. All That’s Left of You
3. Bamako
4. Battleship Potemkin
5. Clash
6. Palestine 36
7. Red Rain
8. Riverstone
9. The Hour of The Furnaces
10. Tunnels: Sun In the Dark (Địa Đạo: Mặt Trời Trong Bóng Tối)
11. Yes
12. Flames
13. Timbuktu
14. Wajib
15. Santosh

Background

Among the other films that were denied permission are A Poet: Unconcealed Poetry, Bamako, director Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 classic Battleship Potemkin, Spanish film Beef, Clash, Eagles of The Republic, Heart of The Wolf, Red Rain, Riverstone, The Hour of The Furnaces, Tunnels: Sun In The Dark (Địa Đạo: Mặt Trời Trong Bóng Tối), Flames, Timbuktu, Wajib and Santosh.

Battleship Potemkin and director Abderrahmane Sissako’s 2006 docudrama Bamako have been widely shown at film festivals in India. Sissako was honoured by the IFFK with a Lifetime Achievement Award this year. MA Baby, General Secretary of the ruling CPI-M said that the film Beef had been denied permission “ostensibly because of its name, even though it has nothing to do with food choices”. The former minister said that the permissions being denied to screen the films was an “absurd and lunatic attempt to derail IFFK” and the “latest example of the neo-fascist tendencies of the extreme authoritarian rule” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.The RSS is the parent organisation of the BJP. “Artists, filmmakers and all democratic-minded citizens must raise their voices against this disgraceful move,” he said.

The Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth organisation affiliated to the CPI(M), held a protest at one of the main venues of the film festival.

Meanwhile Veteran filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke awardee, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, commenting on the attempted censorship of 19 films at the IFFK, including Battleship Potemkin, Beef and some Palestinian film was scathing in his comment, “This shows the ignorance of those making these decisions. Battleship Potemkin is an important study on the grammar of cinema.

VIDEO | Kerala: Veteran filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke awardee Adoor Gopalakrishnan, commenting on the hold on the screening of 19 films at IFFK, including Battleship Potemkin, Beef, and some Palestinian films, says, “It shows the ignorance of those making these decisions.… pic.twitter.com/TOCQCiElS9

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 15, 2025

Kerala Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian has directed State Chalachitra Academy to screen all the films at IFFK @iffklive, including the remaining 15 films for which the Union I&B ministry has not yet provided censor exemption.

Kerala Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian has directed State Chalachitra Academy to screen all the films at IFFK @iffklive , including the remaining 15 films for which the Union I&B ministry has not yet provided censor exemption.

— S.R.Praveen (@myopiclenses) December 16, 2025

Kerala refuses to bow down before the whimsical rulings of Central Board of FilmCertification that denied exemption for 19 films including classic film of Battleship Potemkin in a bid to disrupt the film festival. CM declares that all the19 films will be screened at IFFK .#IFFK

— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) December 16, 2025

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The leaders also denounced the Hindu right-wing Bajrang Dal’s “coercive role” in the arrest of Sister Vandana Francis and Sister Preeta Mary of the order of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate. Both nuns, Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, and Sukaman Mandavi from Narayanpur were arrested on Friday, July 25 after a local Bajrang Dal member, Ravi Nigam, filed a complaint with the police, saying that Mr. Mandavi had brought three women to the Durg railway station, from where they had to go to Agra with the two nuns.

Meanwhile, the Hindu reported that the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs George Kurian said that the matter was sub judice and he was therefore not hazarding an opinion until the court processed the nuns’ arrest. He stated that BJP’s Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar was “working closely with the Central and Chhattisgarh governments, as well as the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, to secure the early release of the nuns.”

Even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a strong letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding justice for the “unfairly incarcerated” nuns, a delegation of left leaders led by leaders like Brinda Karat and Annie Raja has left for Chhattisgarh on the matter. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan also stated the attacks against Christians in BJP ruled States had multiplied after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph, MLA, said Christians in the BJP-ruled States lived in fear of persecution.

A delegation of Left MPs led by senior Left leaders like
@BrindaKarat and @AnnieRaja are leaving for Chhattisgarh. Our struggle for democracy and secularism shall continue, inside and out of the Parliament. pic.twitter.com/dLVZxk0T3l

— A A Rahim (@AARahimdyfi) July 29, 2025

Nuns are “innocent”, say family members of tribal women

Even as the arrest of the Keralite nuns in Chhattisgarh made national headlines, siblings of the purported victims reject allegations of trafficking and forcible conversion; they say the tribal women were accompanying the nuns to Agra for a job with the consent of family members. However BJP’s Chhattisgarh Chief Minister has defended the arrest.

Only days after the Chhattisgarh Police arrested three persons, including two Keralite nuns, on charges of trafficking and forcibly converting a few tribal women, the latter’s family members have denied the police claim. Family members clearly stated that the women accompanied the nuns and a man from Narayanpur of their own volition, and that they are innocent.

However, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, on Monday (July 28, 2025), backed the arrests, saying that “through inducement, an attempt was being made [by the arrested persons] to engage in human trafficking and conversion”.

‘They are being framed’

The younger sister of another woman who was in Narayanpur also demanded the release of the nuns and said her sister left home on July 24, and that the family had converted to Christianity five years ago. Besides, post the arrests, all three families gave a written submission to the Narayanpur Police on July 26 saying that they were aware that the women were being taken for jobs, said Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Robinson Guria.

Related:

Targeted by Mob, Arrested without Cause: Two Catholic nuns jailed in Chhattisgarh despite consent documents and no evidence of conversion

The post As protests intensify in Kerala over arrests of nuns, family members of Adivasi women say nuns are innocent, left national leadership to visit Chhattisgarh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Kerala recorded the lowest number of murders in the country between 2018 and 2020, with a rate of 0.08%. In stark contrast, Uttar Pradesh, governed by hard-line Hindutva forces, had the highest murder rate at 15.1%. Kerala’s achievement underscores its status as a “Garden of Peace” amidst the turmoil propagated by states leaning towards communal politics. The success of Kerala’s governance and the peaceful coexistence of its people challenge the divisive ideologies of Hindutva proponents, who seemingly wish to transform Kerala into a jungle of trouble.

A recent controversy further illustrates this antagonism. Maharashtra’s Fisheries and Ports Development Minister, Nitesh Rane, made inflammatory remarks while speaking on the occasion of Shiv Pratap Din, which marks Chhatrapati Shivaji’s historical victory over Afzal Khan. Rane accused those who supported Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Kerala’s Wayanad constituency of being anti-national. He claimed that the Indian Union Muslim League, an ally of the Congress, worked against national interests and stated, “Kerala is a part of our country, and if anyone works for Pakistan or commits atrocities against Hindus in Kerala, we will have to speak about it. Kerala is ours, and it will remain ours. In the future, Kerala will become ‘Bhagwadhari,’ I am confident about it.” Rane, facing a backlash thereafter was quick to clarify that ‘Kerala was very much part of India,’ though his slurs against the party in power, CPI-M and people of Kerala continued.

Kerala’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, condemned Rane’s statement, calling it deeply provocative and deplorable. He highlighted how such remarks reflect the Sangh Parivar’s divisive approach towards Kerala. Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil also criticised Rane and demanded his removal from the Maharashtra cabinet, while Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition, V. D. Satheesan, called the statement a new low in Indian politics and demanded Rane’s resignation. Former Finance Minister of Kerala, Thomas Isaac was succinct in his response too. “We are no mini-Pakistan, you hate monger BJP minister. Kerala is proudly secular, lowest in untouchability practices, educated and healthy. Our per capita income 60 % above the national. It is you Sanghi who wants to make India into Hindutva mirror image of Pakistan.”

#WATCH | Pune: Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane, says, “Those who supported and worked for Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the elections are anti-national. We have this information…All India Muslim League who worked against the nation had worked… pic.twitter.com/MWM7XSaO9m

— ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2024

We are no Mini Pakistan, you hate monger BJP minister.Kerala is proudly secular, lowest in untouchability practices,educated and healthy.Our per capita income 60% above the https://t.co/N0aDy1FXny is you Sanghi who wants to make India into Hindutva mirror image of Pakistan.

— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) January 1, 2025

Maharashtra Minister #niteshrane‘s comments referring to Kerala as a’mini-Pakistan’ &its people as terrorists is strongly condemned.This really startling statement signals a low point in politics. He has no right to remain in his ministerial position.@RahulGandhi@priyankagandhi

— V D Satheesan (@vdsatheesan) December 30, 2024

https://www.aninews.in/news/national/politics/nitesh-rane-clarifies-mini-pakistan-remark-says-kerala-part-of-india20241230140041/?amp=1

This is not the first instance of Sangh Parivar members targeting Kerala and Rane’s diatribe is not happening in isolation. The controversial film, ‘Kerala Story’, (film maker Vipul Shah, and brazenly promoted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) selectively portrayed Islam and Muslims in a malevolent manner. On September 30, 2017, leader of their pack and a career criminal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat accused the governments of Kerala and West Bengal of siding with “jihadi elements.” Chief Minister Vijayan responded sharply, stating that Bhagwat’s comments were baseless and stemmed from the RSS’s inability to gain political traction in Kerala. Earlier this year, on April 7, former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that Kerala had become a “hotbed of anti-national forces” due to misgovernance and “minority appeasement.”

The repeated targeting of Kerala by Hindutva leaders reveals their discomfort with its inclusive development model, which starkly contrasts their exclusionary ideology. The Sangh Parivar’s rhetoric often hinges on creating divisions and fostering communal disharmony. Kerala, with its progressive policies and rejection of such divisive narratives, serves as a thorn in their side.

It is evident that organisations like the RSS thrive on minority hatred, sustained by the venom of Hindutva. Their modus operandi resembles the mythical demon Ravana, whose heads multiplied upon being cut off. Each attempt to disrupt Kerala’s harmony only strengthens the resolve of its people to resist communal forces. As Kerala continues to uphold the values of pluralism and progress, it stands as a beacon of hope against the tide of divisive politics sweeping parts of the nation.

Sadly, the Supreme Court’s guidelines on hate speech issued in October 2022, directing the police forces in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand to take suo moto action against individuals making hate speeches, irrespective of the religious community they belong to, remain a dead letter. This lack of enforcement perpetuates a climate of impunity and encourages those who seek to sow seeds of division through their hate speech.

Related:

The real Kerala story

Legal Pledges Fall Short: Hate speech prosecutions stalled in Maharashtra

The post From God’s Own Country to a Hindutva Target: Kerala’s Model of Harmony Faces Persistent Threats appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Notably, on December 29^th 2023, the Crime Online, which describes itself as ‘India’s first crime investigation magazine’ had published a video report that labels Maruvaakku as Maoist magazine. The video accused Ambika as a key player in the Popular Front of India- Maoist axis. The video also made the baseless accusation that the printing cost of ‘Maruvaakku’ is funded by Popular Front of India and Maoist party, two banned political outfits. This video and the case followed, is evidence of an organized targeting of the magazine. This action against Maruvaakku should be considered as an attack on independent publications that critiques anti-people policies of the government, raises voice for justice and amplifies the causes for human rights.

It is important to note that Maoist activist Kavitha was killed after GROW Vasu’s protest in refusing to pay the fine and securing bail in a case where he protested these killings. Vasu demanded an investigation into the Maoist killings. Ambika observes that only a very few media reported on the killing of Kavita. In this interview, P Ambika responds to the allegations that are raised against ‘Maruvaakku’.

Is it a first case against the monthly?

Yes. This is the first FIR that is registered against ‘Maruvaakku’. The magazine was mentioned in the Alan Thaha case FIR. But this is the first case that directly targets the magazine. The case is registered under the complaint by one Martin Monacheri. We could find out that he is the Kerala chapter representative of a Sangh Parivar affiliated journalists union. A member from Kerala Union of Working Journalists told me he has filed several complaints against KUWJ as well.

How did the police react to you?

The police said that the complaint was filed due to the pressure from the complainant. The police didn’t give us a notice until the court handed over our anticipatory bail plea to the police. They came only after the court intimated.

How did the publication of Maruvaakku begin? Can you explain to us about Maruvaakku’s history?

I was interested in independent journalism. ‘Maruvaakku’ is the name of a publication by MN Vijayan, only a few issues of it were published, it was stopped after that. So, we took this title because we didn’t want to lose it. We were publishing a newspaper named ‘Gaddika’ back then. We felt the need for a magazine to engage in the issues in a serious manner. It was KS Hariharan who suggested that we must take this title up. I worked on it following. Hari also supported. We published the first issue in December 2014. Cover the issues faced by oppressed communities- this includes tribals, Dalits, minority communities, women, environment, sexual minorities, intense unchecked exploitation of the environment- these were the subjects we covered in the past ten years. The first issue addressed the tribal land issue. It carried the interview with tribal leader CK Janu. The first issue was released at the Adivasi Parliament that was held in the Aralam farm.

In the recent issues we covered the Brahmapuram waste dump yard fire. In the case of K Rail, we reported on the anti- K Rail protest, published the K- Rail issue including the articles written by Dr. KG Thara, M Suchithra, Sahadevan and others who have thoroughly studied the subject. We had covered the Vizhinjam port issue, Vypeen gas project etc. When the protests against Malabar jewellery’s gold processing unit was going on in Malappuram’s Kakkanchery, most of the media that carried the advertisements of Malabar jewelry didn’t cover the protest. But when we reported this, many other media organizations had to take this up. Olavanna land struggle was another important subject we covered. A large area of Olavanna was declared as an industrial area. With this, the residents of Olavanna, who owned three to four cents of land, lost their right to fix a broken wall in their house. We took up this issue. We went there with GROW Vasu and KV Shaji, did reporting, and published a cover story on this issue. This issue was raised in the Kerala legislative assembly following the reporting and the problems were solved. We intervene in such ways. We have published articles during the anti- CAA protests. Our 2023 October issue is on the case against R Sunil, a senior journalist who investigates tribal land alienation in Palakkad’s Attappadi. Sunil is a senior journalist who constantly reports on Kerala’s land issues. We published a cover story. We worked a lot in other ways as well to include a lot of people against this case and enquired the opinion of multiple people. The case against him is withdrawn.

What are the subjects and issues carried in the special issues of Maruvaakku?

We’ve published three issues focused on education. One of it is based on Devika, the high school student’s death by suicide, caused by the digital divide during pandemic hit education. We went to Devika’s house to meet her relatives and neighbors. Spoke to the associated lawyers. We raised that issue. We collected the documents prepared by the organization named ‘Right to Education’.

The latest issue is about caste census. The campaign for caste census in Kerala is led by Dr G Mohan Gopal. We include opinions written by Sudesh M Raghu, OP Raveendran and so on who are closely associated with the movement. We either interview them or publish their exclusive writings. That’s how we report political movements. We had done a cover story on Vadayambadi caste wall issue, that was a ground report.

The people’s protest against K-Rail began in Kozhikode’s Vengalam, by women. We published their interviews as well.

In Kerala, news publications with a woman as its editor are very few. Being a woman editor how do you feel about this case?

Being a woman, there will be problems. I’m someone who does both activism and journalism together. I get immense support from people. Getting calls from Teesta and R Rajagopal was relieving. But I see this case as something very natural about our times. I think this is a problem that is faced by journalists today.

What do you think about the video published by Crime Online? This video explicitly gives a history to this case charged on you. Why do you think you are being targeted?

I could find only a few reports when Kavitha was killed, like exclusive news channels in very few media, like the 24 News or The Fourth. Incidents like this are going unreported. Nowadays, journalists are reluctant to report such news. I wrote on facebook because we need to talk about it when there is no news. In Kerala, nine revolutionaries and a photographer were killed during extra judicial killings or staged encounters. Maruvaakku has covered such issues in detail. I think that is a reason for being targeted. I know very well about this, this has begun a long time back. It happened during the Alan Thaha case. You can buy this magazine from any news stand openly. This is not a secret publication.

They even confiscated the magazine in the Alan Thaha case. That too is a way of targeting. Cases are being filed against, when we protest in Kashmir issue. I’ve very strongly opposed all extra judicial killings. When CP Jaleel was killed, we published an interview with his mother. This interview had stirred emotions in people. Currently there is a land struggle going on in Nilambur, it is led by a tribal woman, Bindu Vylasseri. She was a very healthy woman (when the struggle in front of the ITDP office began in May 2023), now she is in a deteriorated condition. We must do reports about this land struggle.

It was ‘Maruvaakku’ that started a column on Islamophobia for the first time. Now some other Malayalam publications do have a column on Islamophobia. But we realized Islamophobia is a threat in Kerala society and we had decided to begin a distinct column for this issue. We began it a year ago. This column is by Dr. K. Ashraf, who is a professor in Johannesburg University. Another thing, be it Baburaj who is part of the editorial board, be it myself, we speak about Muslim minority issues in the Muslim political platforms constantly and that too can be a reason for a Sangh affiliate to file a complaint like this.

What are the existential problems you face while continuing in print amidst a lot of digital publications? How do you carry on the publication in print? What are the challenges?

The major challenge is financial crunch. The physical hard work of DTP and Layout is done by two persons. I get the magazine copies from the press mostly. The editorial team includes KS Hariharan, BS Baburaj, TR Ramesh, and Martin KD.

We do all the work by ourselves except the printing and sending the copies out. We publish only because all the work is done by ourselves. I used the salary from my job for publication but now I do not have a job. When each issue is printed, we fear this would be the last issue to be printed, but the next issue too comes out. The printing never stopped. There was no break till date. I consider it as a big thing that an alternate print publication could stand in print for continuous ten years. Especially when there is no organizational support, no collective support for us, doing this almost single handedly. The support by friends in the editorial board is immense, and the support of our readers is great wealth.

Mrudula Bhavani is an independent journalist

P.Ambika is editor of Maruvakku

The interview was originally published in Keraleeyam

Courtesy: Counter Currents

The post Police Case Filed Against Woman Editor Of Magazine In Kerala appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

In Ayodhya, where the BJP government is building the Ram Mandir, a horrifying incident of violence against Dalits has emerged where Dalit women were subjected to a vicious attack by men from the Thakur community. The video of the injured women emerged on social media on September 14. 

In response to this incident, the police has stated on Twitter that they have initiated legal proceedings and is actively pursuing appropriate actions.

Despite the severity of the attack, coverage of this story has mostly remained limited to social media and alternate media so far.

This is horrifying,

Dalit women were brutally beaten by casteist Thakurs and left drenched in blood in Ayodhya of Ramrajya, UP.

Please take strict action up police. pic.twitter.com/5GUdZTiHuK

— Susheel shinde (@susheelshinde98) September 14, 2023

उक्त प्रकरण मे प्रभारी निरीक्षक तारुन द्वारा अभियोग पंजीकृत कर आवश्यक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।

— AYODHYA POLICE (@ayodhya_police) September 14, 2023

Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh

In the early hours of Friday morning, the village of Mohideenpur in Uttar Pradesh (UP) was witness to a horrifying act of violence against some members of the most downtrodden group in India. Three members of a Dalit family were killed in cold blood as they lay asleep their hut. Hori Lal, a 62-year-old farmer, his 22-year-old daughter, Brijkali, and her 26-year-old husband, Shiv Sagar, all fell victim to this brutal murder that has shaken the village and turned it upside down, according to the Mooknayak.

The incident is said to have been motivated by an alleged property dispute between Hori Lal and his neighbors, who belong to the Other Backward Classes category. 

In the aftermath of the murder grief-stricken and angry public protested the murder by setting things on fire and breaking property. The houses of the alleged perpetrators, who had fled the scene, were also set ablaze after the horrifying murder was discovered.

Law enforcement officials responded to the scene upon receiving reports of the triple murder and the developing situation as Kaushambi’s Superintendent of Police, Brijesh Srivastava, confirmed that the situation is now under control, but four suspects remain at large, their whereabouts unknown, “The names of four people have come out as the accused. They are absconding. We are in search of them. We are collecting all the information. ” 

To prevent further worsening of the aggravated situation, police presence has been deployed in the village.

Dalit Man slapped, abused for winning Sabrimala tender to prepare Unni Appam in Kerala pic.twitter.com/z2UtnweMgn

— Bahujan Lives Matter (@BahujanLives) September 10, 2023

Trivandrum, Kerala 

In Kerala, a Dalit man was slapped and abused for having secured the tender to provide sweets offered at the acclaimed Sabarimala Temple. It is noted that Dalits face violence and hurdles especially in professions where they are required to handle food. Indian society’s pre-occupation with caste has made it difficult for Dalits to work and live with dignity. 

The two accused are now facing serious charges for their alleged assault and casteist verbal assault on a Dalit man and are currently on the run. Travancore Devaswom Board had given the tender to the victim, Subi, to prepare unniyappam, a traditional sweet fritter offered at the Sabarimala temple. However, the professional success that should have been celebrated instead resulted in garnering humiliation and violence. Subi is from the Pulaya community which classified as a Scheduled Caste in Kerala. 

The incident occurred on September 2 when Subi was targeted by the accused individuals, identified as Ramesh alias Krishnankutty and Jagadeesh. These two men were enraged at the fact that a Dalit man had gotten the tender to prepare the sweet according to The Newsminute. Ramesh and Jagadeesh allegedly threatened him against entering the temple, spat on him, and slapped him across the face, all in the presence of witnesses. 

According to The Newsminute, the victim was standing in the parking lot of the Devaswom Board office in Nanthancode when the accused men confronted him and launched a series of casteist slurs and insults. According to reports by the Times of India, they also questioned how Subi could have gotten tender, and said that the temple belonged to “Hindus and not Pulayas.”

The Thiruvananthapuram police has booked Ramesh and Jagadeesh under Sections 294(b) (dealing with obscene acts and songs) and 34 (pertaining to acts committed by several persons with a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Additionally, they were charged under Section 3(1) (s) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. As of now, the police are actively pursuing the absconding accused, ensuring that justice is served in this disturbing case of caste-based discrimination and violence.

Dalit Man slapped, abused for winning Sabrimala tender to prepare Unni Appam in Kerala pic.twitter.com/z2UtnweMgn

— Bahujan Lives Matter (@BahujanLives) September 10, 2023

Kashmir

A Dalit IAS officer Ashok Parmar from Jammu & Kashmir has asserted that he has been harrassed due to his caste location of a Dalit. The officer claims to have been transferred half a dozen times in the past year, according to The Mooknayak. 

Several parties have spoken in his favour. For instance, the Congress’ spokesperson Pawan Khera has raised questions about the treatment of the officer and said that the move is to apparently hide a multi-crore Jal Jeevan Mission scam in the region. They have also questioned why the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has not taken action on his complaint. 

The JJM scheme was instituted to deliver clean drinking water to all rural households via tap connections by 2024.

Khera has also further asked, “Why, in the wake of his exposé, was a Dalit IAS officer subjected to harassment and targeting? Why did those officers involved in embezzlement and financial misconduct, who burdened the public treasury and harmed our citizens, receive promotions?” 

He further questioned why, despite complaints lodged with the Home Ministry and calls for a CBI investigation, the Jammu and Kashmir administration and the Narendra Modi government have not initiated a thorough inquiry into the multiple irregularities and alleged corrupt practices in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission.

जम्मू-कश्मीर में ‘जल जीवन योजना’ के तहत 13,000 करोड़ रुपये के भ्रष्टाचार का मामला सामने आया है।

यहां G-20 की आड़ में LG-420 को छिपाया जा रहा है।

जब अशोक परमार नाम के IAS अफसर इस गबन को सामने लाते हैं, तो उनका साल में 4-5 बार ट्रांसफर और LG द्वारा अपमान किया जाता है।

वहीं अशोक… pic.twitter.com/xdFnvVQRyU

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 11, 2023

The Congress spokesperson also questioned the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, asking why they haven’t issued a show cause notice to the Lieutenant Governor’s office despite the serious allegations of harassment, intimidation, and mistreatment made by the Dalit IAS officer. He suggested that, following a proper investigation, charges under the SC-ST (Prevention of) Atrocities Act should be applicable.

A case of corruption worth Rs 13,000 crore has come to light under ‘Jal Jeevan Yojana’ in Jammu and Kashmir.

Here LG-420 is being hidden under the guise of G-20.

When an IAS officer named Ashok Parmar exposed this embezzlement, he was transferred 4-5 times a year and insulted… pic.twitter.com/Xfx8wjvMle

— Spirit of Congress (@SpiritOfCongres) September 11, 2023

The National Conference leader, Omar Abdullah has also asked for an impartial enquiry to be taken in the allegations by Parmar, according to Mooknayak.

The IAS officer has approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and has sought redressal for the harassment at the hands of the Jammu and Kashmir administration. While the J&K administration has denied the allegations by Parmar in a press conference they have held earlier. Parmar has claimed there were irregularities in the pipe supply tendering process, but  Jal Shakti Department Additional Chief Secretary Shaleen Kabra has maintained that all work allocations and pipe material procurement have been conducted transparently through the tendering process since 2019. He has asserted further that every transaction is accessible on the department’s website. 

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 

News emerged on 14 September of an elderly  Dalit man being kidnapped and beaten by a local BJP leader led gang in Chopda Kalan Village. The village falls under Sukhi Sevaniya police station limits in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The BJP leader is also said, too, have allegedly urinated on the man when he asked for water. The men took him in an SUV and beat up the Dalit man when he told encroachers to get off government land. They beat him up again and locked him in a room after that, according to Times of India. 

The Superintendent of Bhopal (rural) has said that seven people have been arrested so far.

A 39-year-old Dalit man was abducted and beaten up by a gang led by a local BJP leader, who also urinated on the victim. The incident occurred at Chopda Kalan village under Sukhi Sevaniya police station limits in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/zAFL1bciwP

— The Dalit Voice (@ambedkariteIND) September 14, 2023

Bharatpur, Rajasthan

A government school teacher in Bharatpur district was apprehended by the police on Saturday for reportedly assaulting a Dalit student who was studying in 7th grade merely because the child used water from the staff’s water cooler. The boy was also assaulted with casteist slurs, reportedly. This incident occurred after the student drank water from a container reserved for the staff on Friday, according to Outlook India.

The 12-year-old victim claimed that three students took water from the container intended for the staff, however only he was the only one to be subjected to physical violence. He recounted, that after the morning prayer, students came out of the classroom. Due to some accident while filling water, students ended up spilling some water due to which there was a shortage and students had to take water from the staff’s cooler.  He continued, narrating, that two of his classmates and he filed water from the staff’s cooler in their bottles. However, he was only one who was beaten.

The victim’s brother from Bhimnagar Pahariya Ambedkar Colony, spoke to Times of India stating that, “When my brother attended school on Friday, he was brutally assaulted by the teacher for drinking water from a container meant for the staff. Gangaram also used casteist slurs and attacked the child with sticks and blows, leaving marks on his back.”

He mentioned that the victim’s father had succumbed to silicosis in 2012, and his mother had passed away from typhoid in 2013. Singh’s complaint also reportedly said that the school officials had come to his house the following day and asked to resolve the issue by providing monetary incentive of 2 lakhs.

On Saturday morning, enraged family members and villagers gathered at the government school  protesting against the incident and the accused teacher, Gangaram Gurjar. The police soon arrived at the school, rescued him from the crowd, and took him to the police station.

Superintendent of Bharatpur Mridul Kachawa l has confirmed the teacher’s detention, “The teacher has been detained, and a case has been registered based on the complaint.”

The crowd also attempted to block the state highway but was dispersed by the police. A police officer mentioned that a committee led by an official has been appointed to investigate the matter. “A committee has been established to probe the incident. Based on the committee’s findings, appropriate action will be taken.”

Related 

Real Impact, Real Change: CJP’s year of monitoring violations: a review

Theirs & ours, how Indian cities discriminate against Dalits & Muslims

Continued Surge of Violence against Dalits Spans Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu

Anti-BJP, ‘inconvenient’ voters in Bengaluru could be dis-enfranchised: Karnataka polls

The post From Ayodhya to Trivandrum, are Dalits still unsafe in India? appeared first on SabrangIndia.