How a Local Dispute Turned Into Online Hate: Onam Becomes a Communal Flashpoint Again

A local dispute in Kayamkulam was quickly interpreted on social media as an attack on a man dressed as Maveli by a Muslim shopkeeper. While right-wing accounts used the incident to question Kerala’s secular identity and amplify communal narratives, a subsequent reconciliation between the two men received far less attention.

In recent years, the celebration of the Onam festival that has traditionally brought Keralites across religious lines together has increasingly been recast on social media as markers of religious identity, fuelling communal divisions. OBC journalist Khadeeja Saniyya reported on 25 August how right-wing social media accounts targeted Onam celebrations by Muslim students across Kerala, turning their participation in the festival into a communal issue. 

Recently, right-wing accounts weaponised another incident in Kayamkulam,Alappuzha District in  Keralam, involving a man dressed as King Mahabali and a roadside food stall owner, using it to challenge Keralam’s secular identity and spread hate against Muslims.

OBC analyses how hate spread online and how social media accounts selectively ignored the reconciliation between the two parties.

On August 27, a man dressed as Maveli, a central figure associated with Onam celebrations, was allegedly attacked in Kayamkulam, Alappuzha. According to a police complaint, hot oil was thrown at Chandrababu, a native of Karunagappally, leaving him with burns to his face and hands following an alleged argument at a tea shop. He filed a complaint with the Kayamkulam police regarding the incident.

Later, a video surfaced on Instagram showing Chandrababu and the food stall owner happily joining hands to settle the dispute.

What do the social media posts say?

The X account Rocket Scientist (@Rockumon) shared the video of Chandrababu. It claimed that ‘Keralam’s fake secularism’ was on display after a man dressed as Mahabali was allegedly beaten by two ‘peacefuls’ and had hot oil poured on him. The post used the incident to question Keralam’s secular identity while invoking a commonly used coded term for Muslims.

As of September 1, the post had garnered 7,65,100 views, 19,000 likes and 7,400 reposts.

Responding to the post, a user commented, “The Quran does not permit secularism. It does not leave law, other faiths, or the last word to a neutral state. It claims that itself: one religion accepted (3:85), made to prevail over all others (9:33), and believers told not to take another path as their ally (5:51). Secularism is allowed as per Hinduism.”

Another user stated that such incidents were happening in Keralam because people voted for ‘secular’ political parties.

Highlighting the alleged religious identity of the roadside food stall owner, The Jaipur Dialogues (@JaipurDialogues) claimed that he had ‘brutally attacked’ Chandrababu by throwing hot oil on him because he was dressed as Mahabali during Onam. The post presented the incident as a religiously motivated attack and added the sarcastic remark, ‘100% Literacy Saar,’ a term often used in hate against Keralam.

As of September 1, the post had received 1,38,300 views, 13,000 likes, and 4,700 reposts.

Responding to the post, a user stated that Hindus in Keralam would experience an ethnic cleansing within two decades if such incidents were not immediately addressed. At the same time, another user remarked, “100% literacy, Saar. Secularism Saar. Onam is not a Hindu festival, Saar. Keralam story is propaganda, Saar.”

Similar posts were also widely shared on Instagram and Facebook.

On August 31, the RSS mouthpiece Organiser reported that Chandrababu was attacked while in his Maveli attire after he wished ‘Happy Onam’ to food stall owner Ashraf.

The reconciliation video and the context everyone missed

On August 27, after the incident received widespread media attention and went viral on social media with a communal angle, a reconciliation video showing Chandrababu and the food stall owner settling the dispute surfaced on Instagram.

Screenshot of the Instagram post shared on August 28.

In the video, the owner of the food stall said that he had known Chandrababu for quite some time. Chandrababu, meanwhile, explained that the entire incident arose from a misunderstanding. He said that while dressed in King Mahabali attire, he had asked the stall owner for some money after eating at the shop. The owner jokingly questioned why he had to pay Chandrababu when the latter was the one who had eaten from his stall. According to Chandrababu, the situation escalated due to this misunderstanding. He further said that he held no grudge against the stall owner and that both of them were responsible for what had happened.

The Kayamkulam incident quickly gave room for another communal narrative online during Onam. While several prominent accounts portrayed the episode as evidence of Keralam’s alleged failure of secularism and amplified the religious identity of those involved, the subsequent reconciliation between Chandrababu and the food stall owner received little attention.