KMJ flays abuse of protest photos

MALAPPURAM

The Kerala Muslim Jamat (KMJ) here on Wednesday staged a protest against the alleged abuse of the photographs of a march it had taken out to the district collectorate here on July 30 demanding the revocation of Sriram Venkitaraman’s appointment as Alappuzha District Collector.

In complaints sent to the Director General of Police, Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, and the District Superintendent of Police, KMJ district secretary P.M. Mustafa Kodur demanded action against those using the photographs of the protest to create communal divide in society.

“It was a march against the appointment of an IAS officer who caused the death of our newspaper [ Siraj daily] chief reporter by driving a car in a drunken state in Thiruvananthapuram on August 3, 2019,” said Mr. Kodur.

Some social media groups had used the photographs of the march in a misleading manner, giving it communal colours. A Facebook account named ‘Yogi Adityanath the Next Prime Minister of India’ had used the photographs with a description in a provocative manner.

“The photos of the massive march taken out in Malappuram on July 30 were being circulated on social media, particularly Facebook, with a deliberate intent to create communal divide and to portray the district as communally intolerant. Hatred, falsehood and nonsense were being deliberately spread with a vested interest to destroy the peace and communal harmony of the land,” said the complaint.

The Facebook post, however, was taken off by Wednesday afternoon.