Kerala/Keralam: The poll campaign concluded for the 2026 Keralam Assembly Elections, but a purported video of a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Kozhikode yelling Islamophobic statements during a panel discussion and facing the audience’s anger has spotlighted the state’s secular ethos.
The incident occurred during a political debate programme organised by Malayalam news channel Manorama in Kozhikode’s Feroke municipality. M Girish from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Congress’s Dinesh Perumanna and BJP’s K Ganesh participated in a discussion on civic issues.
Ganesh started praising the saffron party at the Centre, giving the example of the Kozhikode Medical College.
At this, audience members questioned him about other issues faced by Indians.
Feeling cornered, Ganesh snapped back, “You keep singing praises of Pakistan.”
The audience was not in the mood to listen to the retorts. Soon, Ganesh found himself surrounded by locals, charging at the audacity and demanding his immediate apology.
This time, Ganesh shouted, “We are Bharatiyans (Indians).”
Tension escalated, prompting the local police to intervene and whisk Ganesh away, not before he was booed.
K Ganesh was a former State General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Kerala unit and a former National Executive Member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The incident once again showed Keralam’s unbattering secular fabric and its people’s low tolerance for communal rhetoric.
You can watch the whole video here.
