Notice to mosque by police in Kannur 'unwarranted'; SHO removed from office: Kerala CMO

The Kerala government on Wednesday made it clear that it did not believe communal propaganda was being carried out in mosques in the state and termed as ''unwarranted'' the notice issued by the police to the Juma mosque in Kannur district to refrain from any 'communally divisive' sermons during Friday prayers.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said such a notice was ''completely unwarranted and contrary to the view of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government''.

It stated that the SHO of the Mayyil police station issued a wrong notice without understanding the government policy and the State Police Chief has removed him from office in connection with the incident.

The statement came in the wake of criticism of the police action by the opposition, with Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice president V T Balram referring to the recent alleged hate speech by veteran politician P C George at a temple event and questioning whether the LDF government was going to issue notices to temple committees in the state to ban hate propagandists.

Claiming that ''misleading propaganda'' was being carried out against the government in connection with the notice, the CMO statement said that at a time when some vested forces were allegedly trying to create communal tensions in the state, it was important to preserve the friendship and peace that exists between the various faiths, religious institutions and the general public.

It also clarified that the government was not of the opinion that communal propaganda was being carried out in the mosques.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)