Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Kerala has issued a legal notice to former BJP state president K. Surendran, Manorama News editor, the channel’s parent company, and an interviewer associated with a Manorama News event, alleging the saffron politician and publication of defamatory and false statements linking the organisation to the Red Fort bomb blast.
A notice sent through Advocate Ameen Hassan K on behalf of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Kerala Secretary Shihab Pookottur alleged that defamatory statements linking the organisation to the Red Fort bomb blast were published during a Manorama News programme titled “Amarathum Akalathum,” held at the Manorama Hortus event in Subhash Park, Kochi.
Surendran allegedly claimed that Jamaat-e-Islami was involved in the Red Fort blast and associated it with extremist activities: “Who conducted the Red Fort bomb blast? Was it not Jamaat-e-Islami? You are hiding it. It was Jamaat-e-Islami that bombed the Red Fort. Their political wing is the Welfare Party.”
The programme was broadcast on Manorama News, uploaded to the Manorama News YouTube channel, and shared on Surendran’s Facebook page.
The notice asserts that Surendran’s statement is “false, baseless and made with the clear intention of damaging the reputation and goodwill of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and its leaders and workers.”
“You were attempting to spread false narratives about my client with the deliberate intention of creating a communal divide for your political gain ahead of the upcoming Local Body Elections and to defame him,” said Ameen Hassan, emphasising that “your very aim is to secure votes by spreading Islamophobia, portraying a Muslim organisation as anti-national and dangerous, and thereby polarising Hindu and Christian communities.”
“This is a clear attempt to manufacture tension and communal disharmony in society for political benefit,” he alleged.
The notice further states that the wide circulation of the programme on television, YouTube, and Facebook has deeply harmed the organisation’s reputation, causing “huge mental agony, loss of reputation and goodwill” among members, supporters, and the general public.
It also mentions that office bearers of JIH received numerous calls from concerned individuals who had seen the defamatory remarks and questioned their veracity.
Besides former BJP state president K. Surendran, the notice also names Manorama News editor Johny Lukose, the channel’s parent company MMTV Ltd., represented by its Managing Director, and Manorama reporter M.R. Harikumar.
They claimed that the defamatory statements constitute an offence under Section 356(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and that Surendran and the Manorama News parties are liable for civil and criminal consequences, demanding an unconditional apology, immediate withdrawal of the statements, and ₹1 crore in damages, arguing that although the harm cannot be fully measured in monetary terms, the estimate reflects the seriousness of the reputational injury suffered.
They warned that if the recipients fail to comply within seven days, legal action will follow, and the respondents will be held liable for all associated costs.
Speaking to Maktoob, Advocate Ameen Hassan said, “If he does not retract his false statement and apologize, I have instructions to initiate appropriate legal actions. We will move both civil and criminal litigations.”
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