Attempts in country to portray particular community as extremists, claims Kerala minister Riyas
Kozhikode, Jan 8: There are alleged attempts in our country to portray a particular community as extremists and there is a need to look into it, Kerala minister P A Mohammed Riyas said on Sunday.
His remarks came in the wake of a controversy erupting in Kerala after a cultural programme organised during the inaugural function of the 61st state school youth festival, which was held here from January 3-7, had allegedly depicted a particular community as extremists.
Riyas said the alleged association, if any, of the person in charge of that particular programme with the Sangh Parivar needs to be investigated.
"There are attempts in our country to portray a particular community as extremists. In this particular issue, the alleged Sangh Parivar association of the persons concerned should be investigated," Riyas told reporters.
He said such an incident is suspected to be an "attempt to create unrest" during the youth festival.
"The incident is suspected to be an attempt to create unrest during the youth festival. It should be investigated whether that was an attempt to divide people and diminish the popularity of the event which witnessed a huge turnout," he added.
The musical programme was performed after the inauguration of the State School Youth festival on Tuesday.
It depicted the Indian army apprehending a man sporting a Keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headgear worn by men.
Sources said when the dance was performed before the screening committee, it was done without the costume.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had condemned the depiction of a particular community in a bad light in a musical programme and said it should not have happened.
IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty had said the mistake on the part of the government cannot be accepted.
"They could have used some masks to depict terrorists. But instead they used a Muslim attire which was an unacceptable mistake on behalf of the government," Kunhalikutty had said.
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
