Hindu Aikya Vedi leader K.P. Sasikala appears to be courting yet another controversy with her alleged hate speech against secular writers.
Although she was quick to deny the charge, Paravur MLA V.D. Satheesan shot off a letter to the State Police Chief for registration of a case against Ms. Sasikala for the speech in his constituency on September 8.
In the course of her speech at a public function at North Paravur, she had warned secular writers of the same fate as the slain journalist Gauri Lankesh and advised them to perform Mrithyunjaya Homam (puja for long life) at any Siva temple nearby to save their lives.
Once the controversy erupted on Sunday, Ms. Sasikala clarified that she had been referring to the Congress in Karnataka while making the statement. She accused the MLA of taking her words out of context with an intention to defame her.
“What I told the secular writers here was to perform Mrithyunjaya Homam as I have no idea about what the Congress would do against them for votes. So I told them to go to some Siva temple and perform the ritual or else they could be victimised like Gauri Lankesh,” she said. Besides Ms. Sasikala, Mr. Satheesan has also sought action against Hindu Aikyavedi leader R.V. Babu and KPMS leader Thuravoor Suresh for their provocative speeches against him.
“Incidentally, this venom-spewing statement was made at a function in which another person threatened to perform my funeral rites. Though the whole drama was unfolded amidst heavy police presence, the department is yet to act on this,” the MLA said.
Recordings
Meanwhile, the police have collected video and audio recordings of the speeches by all those mentioned in the MLA’s complaint. Upon examining the evidence, a decision on whether to register a case will be made, Special Branch officials with the Ernakulam Rural Police said.
