Have my opinion, but silence is better at times: Professor whose hand was chopped off by PFI activists

Thiruvananthapuram: Professor TJ Joseph, whose hand was chopped off by the activists of Popular Front of India (PFI) for alleged blasphemy 12 years ago, on Wednesday said that observing silence was better at times than always talking.

"As a victim of this violence, I don't want to talk. But as a citizen I may have my opinion. But today is not the day for that. Maybe some other day I would. Now, I have chosen to be silent," the professor said.

There are social and political leaders who need to comment on this let them do that now. I don't want to speak as my conscious does not allow me to speak on this matter as he was a "victim" in the case.

Asking the media persons to respect his privacy and decision to remain 'silent', the former lecturer of Malayalam literature at Newman College in Thodupuzha said, "So I am not reacting. Many of the victims of the PFI's attacks are no longer alive. I would like to observe silence in solidarity with those victims."

Joseph's right hand was chopped off allegedly by activists of the PFI in July 2010 when he was returning home with his wife and sister from a church.

He was attacked for the alleged sacrilegious undertones of one of the questions he had framed in an exam.

The sensational case was investigated by NIA. A special NIA court had convicted 13 people, owing allegiance to the PFI.

The professor also wrote an autobiography, 'Attupokatha Ormakal' (Unforgettable Memories), which details a chilling account of the religious extremism.

Joseph's wife committed suicide in 2014.

The professor said this when he was asked to comment on the central government's decision to ban PFI and several of its associates for five years under a stringent anti-terror law, accusing them of having "links" with global terror groups like Islamic State.

The Union home ministry today declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates or affiliates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala as an 'unlawful association'.