Six held for distributing inflammatory pamphlets at Anandoltsavam venue

published on January 12, 2013

Kollam police on Thursday evening arrested six people for distributing CDs and pamphlets with inflammatory content, near the venue of Anandoltsavam 2013, attended by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar.

One of the arrested is a juvenile.

According to Kollam East police the arrested have been identified as Sunil (39) Al Sabah (23), Narsh (23) Anaz(20) and Jihaad (21). The name of the juvenile has not been disclosed. One of them belongs to Malappuram while others are natives of Kollam district.
According to reports, the accused were distributing CDs and pamphlets among the devotees of Art of Living Foundation who had come to the stadium in large numbers to take part in the event. Many accepted the items without realizing the content. However, some youth who realized the foul play, apprehended the miscreants and alerted the police.

According to reports, the CDs contained provocative speeches by a Muslim preacher, known for his attack on other faiths, especially Hinduism. The Union government had recently banned a channel belonging to this preacher. The pamphlets were reportedly printed by a Kerala based fanatical organization. The pamphlets also contained many references denigrating Hinduism and its gurus, one of the devotees said.

The police have seized about 300 pamphlets and 100 Cds from the culprits and a case has been registered.