Kasaragod (Kerala) | The Kerala Police on Wednesday arrested five persons for allegedly raising provocative slogans during a march organised by the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the northern district of Kasaragod, officials said here.
Over 300 people, mostly members of the Muslim Youth League, were booked for raising provocative slogans during the march organised by it on Tuesday in solidarity with the victims of violence in Manipur.
An officer of the Hosdurg police station said the arrested persons included activists of the Youth League and its parent organisation, IUML.
He said the cases were registered against 307 identifiable persons, including Muslim Youth League National Secretary Firoz Babu and its district leaders who participated in the march.
The case was filed based on a complaint by the president of the Kanhangad mandalam of BJP's youth wing Yuvamorcha.
They have been booked under various sections of the IPC, including 153A, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.
They have also been booked under IPC Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), and 149 (every member of an unlawful
assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of a common object). As the video of the provocative sloganeering went viral on social media, the Youth League expelled the worker who raised the provocative slogans from the organisation. In a statement, Youth League State President Panakkad Sayyid Munavvarali Shihab Thangal expressed deep regret over the incident and said creating hatred between various communities is not the policy of the Muslim League. Youth League State General Secretary P K Firoz said Abdul Salam from Kanhangad Municipality was expelled from the Youth League as he raised slogans that are against its ideology. He also said the workers shouted slogans deviating from the printed version given to them for raising during the march. Slamming the Youth League and Muslim League, which is a key ally of the Congress-led UDF opposition in Kerala, the BJP alleged that the provocative slogans were raised with the support of the CPI(M)-led LDF government and that the state "is now the new pit of rabid radicalisation". "Youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League, an ally of the Congress, held a rally in Kerala's Kasaragod, and raised vile anti-Hindu slogans, threatening to hang them (Hindus) in front of Temples and burn them alive...They wouldn't have dared to go this far had the Pinarayi Govt not been supporting them," BJP's National Information & Technology in-charge Amit Malviya alleged in a tweet. "Are Hindus and Christians now safe in Kerala?" he asked.India AI, Meta India ink pact to spur advancements in AI, emerging tech New Delhi, Jul 26 (PTI) India AI and Meta India on Wednesday signed a pact to foster collaboration in the field of AI and emerging technologies, making Meta's open-source AI models available for use by the Indian ecosystem, according to an official release. India AI is an Independent Business Unit under Digital India Corporation. The MoU aims to establish a framework for collaboration and cooperation between India AI and Meta in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies, including making Meta's open-source AI models available for use by the Indian ecosystem. "India AI and Meta have entered into a collaboration aimed at advancing research and development in AI and emerging technologies, seeking breakthroughs in AI technology and its applications," the release said. Both organisations may also consider establishing a Centre of Excellence to nurture the startup ecosystem of AI and other emerging technologies. "Leveraging Meta's AI research models like LlaMA, Massively Multilingual Speech, and No Language Left Behind, the partnership will focus on building data sets in Indian Languages to enable translation and large language models, with priority given to low-resource languages," it said. The effort will foster social inclusion, improve government service delivery, and spur innovation using large language models, Generative AI, cognitive systems and translation models. The two sides will strive to enhance accessibility to AI computing resources for researchers, startups and organisations with limited resources. Knowledge sharing and collaboration in AI and emerging technologies will be facilitated through workshops, seminars, conferences and similar platforms. "Both organisations are dedicated to developing programmes and initiatives that enhance AI and Emerging Technologies skills and expertise among researchers, professionals and students in India, contributing to the growth of AI talent in the country," the release said. India AI and Meta share a common goal of raising awareness about the new-age technologies' potential benefits and risks among various stakeholders, including policymakers, businesses, civil society and the general public. They will also work together to promote responsible AI practices through the collaborative development of comprehensive tools and guidelines. Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs, Meta, said the company's open approach to AI innovation is complementary to India's leadership on digital issues. "Giving businesses, startups and researchers access to these technologies can open up a world of social and economic opportunities. ‘India AI' is an exciting programme and with close collaboration between government and industry, we can strengthen India's digital leadership and help to ensure AI tools are built for India's unique needs," he said.
