Kerala Police Arrests Two Amid Viral Video of Boy Raising Slogans at PFI Rally

The two arrested are PFI Alappuzha district president Navas Vandanam and the person who was seen holding the child.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

The Kerala Police on Tuesday, 24 May, arrested two people in connection with a case relating to allegedly provocative slogans being raised by a minor boy in a rally organised by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Alappuzha on 21 May.

The two arrested include PFI Alappuzha district president Navas Vandanam and the person who was seen holding the child on his shoulders, news agency ANI reported.

The video of the the boy raising the slogans had gone viral.

Earlier, Kerala Police had registered a case in connection with the same and had apprehended one person.

The developments come after the Kerala High Court expressed concerns about children being used in political and religious rallies.

Meanwhile, PFI Alappuzha district secretary Mujeeb, its president Navas, and other identifiable persons have been named in the FIR.

"As of now, we have taken one person into custody. We are questioning him. Further action will follow," the police said, news agency PTI reported.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered based on a complaint filed by Vijayakumar PK.

Sections 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), 505 (1) (b) (act against the public tranquility), 505 (1) (c), 505 (2), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 120 (o) of Kerala Police Act (KP Act) are included in the FIR.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had put pressure on the Kerala police to register an FIR.

The individual apprehended is from Kottayam's Erattupetta and is suspected to have brought the child to the rally.

However, as per PFI officials, they had a set of official slogans during a march in Alappuzha on Saturday.

"This slogan was not among them. A lot of workers from various places attended the march. When volunteers noticed this slogan, they prevented raising that slogan," PFI officials said, PTI reported.

The viral video has drawn flak from several quarters. Condemning the incident, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet:

"The video of this event and media reports have shocked Kerala. Hate speech and intimidating slogans are deplorable irrespective of the politics behind them or the religion of those using them. Opposing communalism means opposing the communalism of all sides."

What Did the Kerala High Court Say?

Expressing concern about children being used in political and religious rallies, a single-judge bench of Justice Gopinath P of the Kerala High Court on Monday had observed, "I just want to know if there is any law which prohibits this. These children will grow up with hatred inside them," LiveLaw reported.

"Aren't they fostering a new generation that grows up with religious hatred in their minds? When this child grows up and becomes a major, his mind will already be conditioned to this kind of rhetoric. Something must be done," he added.

Wondering how legal using children in such rallies is, Justice Gopinath stated, "Children are being forced to take part in political rallies and are made to voice all sorts of provocative slogans. That is some new kind of attraction, it seems. But how far is that legal?"

The bench had expressed upon these concerns while adjudicating upon a group of cases involving minors and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

(With inputs from NDTV, LiveLaw, and PTI.)