Kerala - Kozhikode   

Hindu Aikya Vedi activists stage protest

Kozhikode: Defying prohibitory orders clamped by the district administration, activists of the Hindu Aikya Vedi staged a demonstration at Muthalakulam here on Friday.

Earlier, the organisation decided to take out a march to the Tharbayyathul Islamic Sabha at Mukhathar alleging it to be a religious conversion centre.

Following this, the district administration clamped prohibitory orders under Section 23 (power to prohibit any procession or public assembly) of the Kerala Police Act on the city limits.

Hundreds of activists took out a march from Muthalakulam around 10.45 a.m. However, the police stopped the protesters at Kottapparambu, less than 100 metres from Muthalakulam.

They squatted on the road and dispersed after a protest meeting at noon. Hindu Aikya Vedi State general secretary E.S. Biju inaugurated the meeting.

A large posse of policemen were posted in the area to avert any untoward incident. The anti-riot force was ready with water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse the activists, if they turned violent.

Meanwhile, a large mob led by the Samasta Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF) gathered in front of the Tharbayyathul Islamic Sabha to form a human wall to block the Hindu Aikya Vedi activists.

The Popular Front of India, earlier known as the National Development Front, had earlier come out with a statement that it will block the march.

Police personnel were also posted in front of the centre at Mukhadhar.

However, half-an-hour after the activists dispersed, two stones were hurled at the Pattalapalli Juma Masjid from near the premises of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) office.

Later, Hindu Aikya Vedi office-bearers E.S. Biju and K.P. Haridas met mosque committee vice-president T.P.M. Zahir and secretary P.M. Abdul Karim to sort out the matter.

Both the parties came to the conclusion that some miscreants might have pelted stones at the place of worship to vitiate the communal atmosphere.

Incidentally, during the agitation, the Hindu Aikya Vedi leaders escorted a pregnant Muslim woman in a jeep to the Women and Child Hospital at Kottaparambu.

The Town police registered a case against the Hindu Aikya Vedi for taking out a march as well as the stone-throwing incident. Investigators suspect that a fundamentalist organisation is behind the incident.

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