Government to take K P Sasikala to court for her 'hate speeches'

Thiruvananthapuram: The government will move the court against Hindu Aikya Vedi leader K P Sasikala for what has been termed “her communally-loaded hate speeches that spread falsehoods.” This was announced by Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran in the Assembly on Thursday.

“K P Sasikala is one of the right-wing leaders out to provoke communal conflict in our land,” the minister said. “Recently I came across a video of her speech in which she talks sheer lies. She says that over 60 per cent of employees in the Devaswom Board are Christians. And then, clearly to provoke her audience into bigoted thinking, she tells that that when poor Hindus were finding it hard to make ends meet, Christians were making merry at their expense,” the minister said.

The minister had made this charge even earlier and Sasikala the other day had challenged him to take her to court if he had found her statements offensive. “I am taking up the challenge. I have decided to go to court against such people who spew communal venom during their public speeches,” the minister said. Kadakampally also said that prohibitory orders were clamped in Sabarimala to prevent anti-social elements like Valsan Thillenkeri and Sasikala from entering the temple.

The arrest of Sasikala on November 17, when she made an attempt to walk to Sabarimala, had led to the BJP call for a statewide hartal on the same day. After the arrest, Sasikala had staged a fast inside the police station demanding that she be allowed to enter Sabarimala.

Justifying her arrest, the police said that Sasikala's intention was to organise protests at Sannidhanam. The police had also pointed out that Sasikala was among the Sangh Parivar leaders who had blocked women passengers moving to Sabarimala, and checked their documents when the temple opened for the first time after the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all age group to enter the hill shrine.