RSS leader and Kesari editor N.R. Madhu claimed that offering Islamic prayers five times a day using loudspeakers is an act of hatred towards other religions, and further alleged that Muslims are behind all massacres happening across the globe, sparking a flurry of hate-filled statements targeting both Islam and rapper Vedan during an interview with Reporter TV.
The RSS leader, who was recently booked for inciting violence through hate speech, has once again sparked outrage with a fresh set of provocative statements targeting Islam and rapper Vedan.
In the interview, Madhu alleged that “Islam is behind all massacres in the world and that the Quran is the book found in terrorist attacks,” and further declared that “praying five times a day using loudspeakers is an act of hatred towards other religions.” He justified his views by claiming that he had read in the Quran that “one attains heaven by killing those who do not believe in Allah wherever they are encountered.”
Madhu elaborated that “when you pray five times a day, you say there is no God but Allah,” and argued that “those who do not believe in Allah are called ‘kafir’, and I have read in the Quran that if you kill a kafir wherever you encounter them, you will attain heaven.”
Shifting his focus to Kerala's social reform movements, Madhu claimed that Hinduism alone has the capacity to accommodate all religions and that the state's renaissance was led solely by the Hindu community, asserting that “the renaissance in Kerala started with Ayyankali Vaikundaswami.”
He then questioned the contribution of other religious communities by asking, “Can you name ten renaissance leaders from the Muslim community? Or ten from the Christian community? You can't.”
He further argued that reformers like Narayana Guru cannot be secularised, stating that “even though Narayana Guru said ‘one caste, one religion, one God,’ he personally led the effort to bring back Ezhavas who had converted out of the faith in Neyyattinkara,” and added that “Ayyankali was the one who converted Vellikkara Mathai back to Vellikkara Chothi.”
Madhu also reiterated his criticism of rapper Vedan, claiming that the artist gained prominence only after appearing with a Palestinian flag, and remarked that “there are many folk artists in Thrissur district, and 99% of them belong to Dalit and backward communities, but Vedan gained popularity only when he started performing draped in the Palestinian flag.”
These comments follow a previous hate speech delivered by Madhu on May 11 during the re-consecration ceremony at the Sree Parvathi Devi Temple in Puthiyidom, East Kallada, where he expressed concern over Vedan’s performance at temple venues and equated it with the degradation of cultural spaces.
In that speech, Madhu said, “Today, one has to doubt whether this renaissance is going astray in some places. The other day, I heard that there was Vedan's dance, song, and performance at a temple ground. Those who are willing to play Vedan’s song to attract crowds might even arrange a cabaret dance in our temple grounds to attract crowds.”
He continued, “I have no personal animosity towards Vedan. But Vedan’s song is becoming a theatrical farce that propagates caste terrorism and divisive ideology, injecting poison into the minds of the growing generation.”
Accusing Vedan of being backed by external forces, Madhu asserted, “There are strong sponsoring forces behind the artist named Vedan. A careful study reveals that dark forces, who dream of the disintegration of this country, are clearly behind him. We must be able to resist such theatrical farces entering our four-walled temples.”