FIR against RSS over cake-cutting video celebrating killing of SDPI member
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The Kannavam police in Kerala’s Kannur district have registered a case against unnamed individuals associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for circulating a provocative video that allegedly mocked the death of a Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) worker who was killed five years ago.
The incident came to light on September 8, which marked the death anniversary of SDPI worker Salahuddin, and it has now led to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).
On the day of the anniversary, several Instagram pages linked to RSS shared a video showing a cake-cutting ceremony in which a dagger was used to slice a cake decorated with the words “Pride, Kannavam Swayamsevaks,” and crackers were burst after the act.
Among the accounts that circulated the video was one named ‘Durganagar Chundayil,’ which specifically tagged the Kannavam unit of the SDPI, and the post was accompanied by captions that described the occasion as a moment of celebration over Salahuddin’s death.
The symbolic representation of joy, combined with the language used in the captions, has been treated by the police as a deliberate attempt to create unrest in an already sensitive region.
Salahuddin had been killed on September 8, 2020, in Kannavam, in an incident where workers of the RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were alleged to be involved, and his death had at that time triggered heightened political tensions across parts of Kannur.
The police have noted in the FIR that the cake-cutting and subsequent online circulation of the video were a clear expression of triumph over that killing, and they assessed that the intention behind sharing it was to provoke the SDPI and incite conflict in the locality.
The FIR further records that the video was spread by anti-social elements who sought to disturb the otherwise peaceful environment of Kannavam, and the act of celebrating the killing was seen as an attempt to reopen old wounds and push the region into political confrontation.
