Kasaragod: Hosdurg police have booked Muslim League state working committee member and popular party orator Basheer Vellikoth for "wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot", after he, in a Facebook post, cast aspersion on Sangh Parivar groups in the Pahalgam terror attack.

Basheer, who is also the president of the party's Kanhangad Assembly constituency committee, said the massacre at Pahalgam meadows was driven by political interests, and called for an investigation to identify the people in the attack that claimed 26 lives.

The FIR, registered under Section 192 of the BNS, is based on a complaint filed by Hindu Aikya Vedi’s Kasaragod district president Shaji S P. If convicted, Basheer will face up to six months in prison and/or a fine.

"I’m disappointed the police invoked only a petty charge when my complaint clearly alleged anti-national activity during a national crisis. I’ll now approach the NIA," said Shaji. "Basheer is the Muslim League's district representative. He attends the meetings called by the Collector and the District Police Chief. The police should have taken stricter action," said Shaji.

Basheer put out the post on April 23, a day after the terror attack, and deleted it on April 24, when rightwing media and organisations highlighted it.

"Basheer saw 'conspiracy' behind terrorists asking for the religions of the victims, when survivors, speaking to the media, said the terrorists indeed checked the religious identity," said the Hindu Aikya Vedi leader.

On Thursday, April 25, the rightwing outfit protested in Kanhangad, demanding action against the Muslim League leader. By around 11 pm, Hosdurg Police registered the FIR.

Basheer said he deleted the post when Janam TV "twisted" his words and broadcast "fake news".
“I wanted to avoid controversy. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have deleted it. But it’s still available on my broadcast channel. I stand by every word I wrote," he said.

Basheer wrote that the full truth behind the 2019 Pulwama attack is still unknown. "In the case of the Mumbai operations (Nov 2008), it was not a coincidence that Hemant Karkare (chief of Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad killed in the attack) was investigating Hindutva terror links," he wrote and went on to add: "The Sangh Parivar group recently organised several incidents in North India to create unrest within the Hindu community by framing Muslims for the crimes."

Basheer said religion was used in Pahalgam solely to trigger nationwide unrest. If the attackers were Muslim, he argued, they were pawns of political interests seeking to gain from the carnage. Whatever their identity, the perpetrators and their motives must be exposed. The killers must face the gallows, he wrote.

"At no point did I justify terrorism or even violence. The police should review their decision to charge me," Basheer said.