It may be mentioned that the Karnataka Metropolitan Magistrate's Court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Madhani in connection with the bomb blasts which rocked Bangalore on July 25, 2008.

The march, scheduled for August 20, is being taken out, ostensibly, to demand a ban on terrorist organizations. But its real purpose, it is not difficult to divine, is to whip up passions in the area which is limping back to normalcy in the wake of the arrest of Madhani, and take advantage of the resultant communal polarization.

The BJP has accused the Kerala Government of having deliberately delayed Madhani's arrest. Despite CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat's statement in Vijayawada that there was no need to support Madhani, who is an accused in a criminal case.

Facts do not support the BJP's case. For, days before Karat made the statement, Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had said that the Kerala Government would extend full co-operation to the Karnataka police in facilitating Madhani's arrest.

But, for reasons known only to itself, the Karnataka police sat tight on the non-bailable warrant against Madhani for some time before rushing to Kerala to execute the arrest. Incidentally, the charge-sheet against Madhani was filed in the Karnataka High Court on June 11, 2010.

Nor did the Karnataka Government communicate to the Kerala Government its decision to send a police team to Kerala sufficiently in advance. The official communication came only after the police team arrived in Kollam town in Kerala, near Anwarssseri a week ago - more than two months after the charge-sheet was filed in the Karnataka HC - to execute the arrest.

The Kerala Government then suggested that the police delay the arrest by a few days as President Pratibha Patil was in the state on a three-day official visit and because of the Independence Day celebrations on August 15. As the entire police force was focussed on ensuring security during the VVIP visit and Independence Day celebrations, it was impossible to spare adequate force to ensure the smooth arrest of Madhani during the President's visit. Moreover, it would have embarrassed the State Government if any law and order situation had been created by Madhani's arrest while she was still in Kerala.

The mistake the Achuthanandan Government made was to delay the dispatch of adequate police force to Anwarsseri. The lapse enabled a large number of Madhani supporters and activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) to assemble at Anwarsseri creating tension.

That mistake should not be repeated. This time, the State Government must either deploy police in sufficient strength at Anwarsseri to prevent the BJP march taking an ugly turn or ban it altogether.

Now that Madhani has been arrested, there is no need for the BJP to go ahead with the proposed march. It would serve only one purpose: of reviving tension in the area which has started breathing easy. Will the BJP call off the march? Keralites are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that better senses would prevail. (IPA)