Six people were arrested by the Kollam police on the morning of Tuesday, 6 February, after they allegedly verbally attacked noted poet Kureepuzha Sreekumar.
All six arrested are men affiliated to the BJP and RSS, Kollam rural SP confirmed to The News Minute.
The incident happened on Monday night near Kottukal in Kollam, when Sreekumar was trying to get into his car. He had just delivered an address at an event that had been organised to celebrate the anniversary of Kairali library. In his speech, poet Sreekumar reportedly criticised the right-wing.
The six men including BJP's Ittiva panchayat member Deepu allegedly verbally abused and threatened Sreekumar. He then filed a complaint with the Kadakkal police, following which, all the six men were nabbed.
Speaking to Asianet News, Sreekumar explained how the six men had verbally abused him.
Following the incident, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed Kollam rural SP to take immediate action against the accused. In a Facebook post, the CM condemned the attack on poet Sreekumar by BJP/RSS men and said that the state will strongly suppress all attacks against freedom of expression.
A noted and acclaimed poet, Sreekumar is the recipient of a number of literary awards including the prestigious Vyloppilli Award for Malayalam poetry and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards.
Sreekumar's poems find traces of politics, religion-based terrorism and social issues.
Taking on Facebook, senior journalist and executive editor of Deccan Chronicle reacted strongly against the attack on Sreekumar:
(This article was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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