Kerala BJP chief calls for equal respect for all faiths amid cafe video controversy

In Kerala, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar denounced Chief Minister VD Satheesan’s handling of a social-media controversy, labeling it ‘selective secularism.’ The dispute began when Satheesan highlighted the police arrest of north-Indian YouTuber Amrit Singh Darren, who posted an Instagram video claiming a Fort Kochi café featured a statue of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, served beef, and bore the name of the holy city Kashi.

The clip provoked condemnation from Satheesan and opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan, who called the remarks communal. Chandrasekhar seized the moment to challenge the Congress-CPI(M) coalition, accusing them of enabling anti-India and anti-Hindu discourse and of aligning with groups like Jamaat-e-Islami. He invoked Articles 19 and 19(2) of the Constitution, urging equal sensitivity toward Hindus, Christians and Muslims, and warned that selective tolerance would erode genuine secularism.