PALAKKAD/KANNUR: Kerala Police have registered cases after posters that start with “This India is not my country” in the name of SFI appeared in at least two colleges in the state. However, the SFI state unit dissociated itself from the controversial posters.
The posters appeared at Brennen College, Thalassery and Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Malampuzha.
Dharmadom police registered a suo motu case under Section 153 (that deals with wantonly giving provocation with the intent to cause a riot) of the IPC against the poster put up allegedly by the SFI unit of Brennen College. The poster appeared on the campus on Friday.
The poster, which was put up near the administrative block of the college, starts goes on to say, “These stinking people are not my brothers and sisters. I can’t love a country like this and can’t have pride in the present condition of it. I feel ashamed to live with these terrorists in such a situation like this”.
“We have started an investigation regarding the incident. So far, we have not been able to identify the persons who had put up the poster,” said SI Mahesh Kandambeth of Dharmadam police station.
The Malampuzha police said they have also registered a case against the top office-bearers of the SFI’s ITI unit in connection with the anti-national poster which appeared under the outfit’s name in the institute.
The police said no arrests have been made, but a case has been registered under Section 153 of the IPC against SFI unit president Jithin and secretary Sujith based on a complaint from ABVP members studying in the institution.
As the issue snowballed into a controversy, the principal intervened and removed the poster. The police said they have launched an investigation. If indicted, the SFI leaders would face one-year imprisonment and fine.
P Dinanath, SFI Palakkad district secretary, said the posters with these wordings had appeared in three colleges in the state and also on social media.
He said the SFI has nothing to do with these wordings in the poster. The students who put up the posters only meant that “the India we dreamt of is not that of religious bigots”. However, the wordings were being interpreted wrongly, he contended.