The Thrithala 'Desholvasam' Uroos festival is now mired in a controversy over displaying banners valorizing Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Amidst the jamboree of the festival, banners adulating banned terrorist organization leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah appeared on top of elephants leaving crowds in a frenzy. The video of the incident has also gone viral across the internet.

Almost 3000 people participated in the Uroos festival. The crowd was seen cheering and applauding when posters and banners of Hamas leaders got lifted from the top of elephants. The incident drew harsh criticism for not just valorizing banned terrorist leaders but also making small children hold the posters.

Criticism also came on the way of Minister M B Rajesh and former MLA V T Balram, for participating in the event but not condemning the act. Till now, the festival organizers haven’t commented on the issue. Meanwhile, BJP leaders including state president K Surendran demanded an investigation into the incident and even mocked the 'secular status of Kerala' that he said often hero-worships terrorists.

Terrorists glorified on the streets of Kerala. As per local media reports, during a recent Uroos procession at a local mosque in Thrithala, the mosque authorities displayed posters of Hamas Islamist terrorists Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Hassan Nasrallah. Why no action yet? pic.twitter.com/nfgPIkpu2M

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) February 17, 2025