Complaint filed against SNDP Yogam General Secretary for calling a journalist terrorist

Youth Congress Kozhikode District Vice-President S Sunand filed the complaint with the Director General of Police (DGP) on Friday against SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellappally Natesan for publicly calling a journalist “terrorist”.

In the complaint, he said that Vellappally is trying to create a communal divide by identifying a religion with terrorism and portraying religious minorities as extremists based on their names. The complaint also demands action against Vellappally for creating division and communal strife in the society. The complaint was filed via email

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The complaint relates to the remarks made by Vellappally against Reporter TV journalist Rahees Rasheed, who he described as a “terrorist” on Friday, citing his hometown, Erattupetta, and his past association with the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

The incident followed a media interaction held on Thursday during which Rahees questioned Vellappally about the SNDP’s inability to set up a school in Malappuram, an issue Vellappally himself had previously raised. REplying to the question, Vellappally said that the organisation had not received permission from the government. Rahees then followed up by asking why the permission had not been granted despite the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, having been in power for nearly a decade.

To this, a visibly angered Vellappally pushed the microphone away and abruptly ended the exchange.