Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan has made controversial remarks against Muslim-dominated Malappuram district in the state, describing it as a “separate nation” or an exclusive “state of certain people”.

SNDP is an organisation that represents the numerically strong Ezhava community in Kerala. While addressing a convention of community members at Chungathara here, Natesan said that people belonging to the “backward community” are living under constant fear in Malappuram. He charged that the community members could not even breathe freely here and were treated just as “voting machines”.