KOLLAM: A day after poet Kureepuzha Sreekumar was allegedly attacked by a group of right-wing supporters at Kottukal, the Kadakkal police on Tuesday recorded the arrest of six men, including a panchayat member. The arrested are Manu, Syam, Kiran, Vishnu, Sujith and Deepu, all Kottukal residents. Of them, Deepu represents North Kottukal ward of Ittiva grama panchayat. The miscreants are either BJP activists or RSS supporters.
“It is on the basis of the complaint filed by the poet that we recorded the arrest of the six. A total of 15 people were involved in the incident. The others who remain at large will also be arrested soon,” said B Asokan, Kollam Rural SP.Meanwhile, a complaint was received by the Kadakkal police on Tuesday, that demanded action against Sreekumar for hurting religious sentiments. The complaint filed by a BJP district committee member stated the poet, throughout his speech at Kottukal, had hurt the religious feelings of a particular class.
While acknowledging the acceptance of such a complaint, Kadakkal IOP S Sani said that no action had been taken on the same.It was on Monday evening that poet Sreekumar was allegedly verbally abused by a group of persons after they confronted him in return following a speech at the anniversary of Kairali Library, near Kottukal. The group, that alleged objectionable contents in the poet’s address, is said to have shoved and jostled him. He was later rescued by the organisers.
Later, Kureepuzha said that abusive words were hurled at him after he mentioned about the growing Hindutva in the country and about the incidence of ‘caste wall’ at Vadayampady in Kochi. At the same time, a hashtag campaign, #kavikoppam, along with protest meets and rallies for garnering support to the poet was conducted in various parts of the district.
DYFI condemns attack on poet
T’Puram: The DYFI state secretariat has condemned the attack on poet Kureepuzha Sreekumar, allegedly by the RSS activists. “The RSS has been trying to silence those who air their opinions openly. Attack against Kureepuzha is the latest example of the Sangh Parivar agenda. Progressive Kerala cannot tolerate such fascist actions by the RSS,” the DYFI said in a statement. The DYFI urged the government to bring culprits in the incident before the law. The organisation will hold a state-wide protest against the incident, the statement said.