Kerala police book unknown persons over Ayyappa parody song 'pottiye' circulated during polls
The cyber crime wing of the Kerala Police has registered a case against unknown persons over a parody song titled Pottiye Kettiye that circulated during the recent local body elections in the state and allegedly hurt religious sentiments, PTI reported. The parody, based on a popular devotional song dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, makes references to the Sabarimala gold loss case and the alleged role of prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty. According to PTI, the complaint was received on Tuesday by State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar, who forwarded it to Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) H Venkatesh for necessary action. The matter was subsequently referred to the cyber crime police station in Thiruvananthapuram, which registered an FIR under Sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against unknown persons. Who all are to be booked in the case will be determined during the course of the investigation, a cyber crime officer was quoted as saying by PTI . The complaint was filed by an office-bearer of Thiruvabharanapatha Samrakshana Samiti, a religious organisation based in Pandalam in Pathanamthitta district. The parody, which was allegedly used by the UDF and the BJP during their election campaigns, has also triggered a political controversy. PTI reported that the ruling CPI(M) is considering filing a complaint with election authorities. LDF convener T P Ramakrishnan said action should be taken if the song had hurt religious sentiments. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal dismissed the political impact of the song, saying elections were not won through such means and that several parody songs targeting political leaders in the past had not influenced poll outcomes. He accused the Left of viewing the issue through a communal lens rather than introspecting on its electoral performance. Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan pointed out that the CPI(M) had itself used a parody of the same devotional song over a decade ago to target then Chief Minister K Karunakaran. At that time, there was no concern about hurting devotees sentiments. The concern has arisen now because the parody refers to the alleged theft of Lord Ayyappas gold, he said, according to PTI. Meanwhile, Danish, a Malappuram native who sang the viral parody, told a television channel that he was unaware of any legal violations and said the song had not offended devotees. PTI quoted him as saying that many pilgrims travelling to Sabarimala had played the song during their journeys and that it had upset only those facing allegations in the case. (With inputs from PTI)
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