India: Kerala police book foreign tourists for tearing pro-Palestine posters in Kochi

Police in the Indian state of Kerala have registered a case against two foreign tourists after they allegedly destroyed pro-Palestine posters put up by members of an Islamist student outfit in the city of Kochi. The video of the incident which has since gone viral shows the two engaging in a heated argument with the locals saying that the posters were “insulting” to the Jewish people.

What we know about the incident

On Tuesday (Apr 16), the Kochi city police registered a case against two female foreign tourists after they allegedly tore down pro-Palestine posters put up by members of an Islamist student outfit.

The incident was reported to the police on Monday evening and the women have since been booked under section 153 for deliberate provocation with intent to cause a riot.

According to reports, the police were reluctant to file a complaint but after a day of protests outside the police station by the members of the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), they eventually agreed and lodged a complaint.

The pro-Palestine posters were put up by the SIO in front of the Jankar Jetty in Kochi. In the video, the women can be seen getting into an argument with the members of the Islamist student outfit after reportedly tearing down the posters.

“I did it for the Jewish people. You are promoting propaganda and lies,” one of the tourists can be heard saying to the locals in the clip.

Political controversy

Last year, the former head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Mashal, virtually addressed a pro-Palestine rally in Kerala’s Malappuram.

The event in question was held around 20 days after Hamas had attacked southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials and took hundreds of hostages with them back to Gaza.

Israel has since retaliated and its offensive in Gaza has killed more than 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The event in Kerala’s Malappuram was organised by Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of Jamaat-Islami and triggered a political row with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the opposition INDIA alliance of ‘anti-national’ activities in the state.

At the time, Kerala BJP president K Surendran took to X and called the situation alarming, asking the Kerala Police to take action saying that under the guise of ‘Save Palestine’ they are glorifying a “terrorist organisation, and its leaders as ‘warriors.’ This is unacceptable!”

(With inputs from agencies)