Last Updated: October 29, 2023, 18:06 IST
The poster of the Kerala event. (X)
Kerala serial blasts: Khaled Mashal is said to be a founding member of the Hamas politburo and was its chairman until 2017
The virtual attendance of one of the top Hamas leaders at an event in Kerala has sparked a massive political row in the wake of the serial blasts during a Sunday prayer meet in Kalamassery. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the incident shows “the failure of the Pinarayi Vijayan government” and the organisers of the event justified it as “nothing unusual”.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashal on Saturday participated virtually and also addressed a protest organised by an Islamist group in Kerala against Israel’s war with the militant outfit.
Justifying Mashal’s presence, the organisers said that many Hamas leaders spoke at events in Kerala and India has not banned Hamas.
Top intelligence sources said that the Hamas leaders’ virtual presence in pro-Palestine rallies in India is a matter of concern.
Who is Khaled Mashal, Whose Speech In A Kerala Event Sparked Row?
Khaled Mashal is said to be a founding member of the Hamas politburo and was its chairman until 2017. He was a key leadership figure of the Hamas.
According to a BBC profile, Khaled Mashal was born in the West Bank and brought up in Kuwait and Jordan. He became Hamas’s political leader in exile in 2004. However, Mashal never lived in Gaza and operated from Jordan, Syria, Qatar and Egypt.
According to Israel’s foreign ministry, Khaled Mashal is now based in Qatar and has a net worth of $4 billion
In his virtual speech during the Kerala event, Mashal made some provocative remarks asking youth to take to the streets to show anger against Israel and extend support to Hamas, a designated militant group by many countries.
The Hamas leader also urged Kerala youth to promote the Palestinian narrative on social media and called for financial aid for the group.
Controversy over Mashal’s Participation in Kerala’s Event
Videos of Khaled Mashal speaking at an event organised by an Islamic group in Kerala went viral on social media. Calls for “Uproot bulldozer Hindutva and apartheid Zionism” were seen in the footage of the event.
The video soon sparked a political slugfest after the BJP Kerala chief slammed the event and urged both Kerala police and central agencies to investigate the incident further.
BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla also said that it is unfortunate that the Kerala government is giving a platform to such organisations.
Meanwhile, the state president of the Solidarity Youth Movement Suhaib CT stated that his participation in the event did not breach any law and was not a crime as Hamas is not an organisation which operates in India.