The Chief Minister, who leads a coalition government of Congress, Indian Union Muslim League and four other parties, found nothing problematic in the display of Jinnah’s portrait and the beef dishes on the menu of Kashi Art Café. Instead, he chose to hound the vlogger who merely exposed the facts in his video. Satheesam posted a message on X criticising the vlogger and directing legal action against him.
“Keralam stands united. Communal hatred has no place here. The recent Instagram video by a vlogger from outside the state, attempting to spread misinformation about Fort Kochi, portray our state in a negative light, and divide communities, is unacceptable,” Satheesan wrote on X.
He said that legal action has been initiated against vlogger Amrit Singh, portraying his exposé as an attempt to disturb the state’s communal harmony. “A case has been registered, and the law will take its course. The UDF government remains committed to communal harmony and justice without fear or favour. A New Era for God’s Own Country. No room for hate. We will not allow anyone to even lay a finger on our communal harmony,” the Kerala CM said.
Keralam stands united. Communal hatred has no place here. The recent Instagram video by a vlogger from outside the state, attempting to spread misinformation about Fort Kochi, portray our state in a negative light, and divide communities, is unacceptable. A case has been registered, and the law will take its course. The UDF government remains committed to communal harmony and justice without fear or favour. A New Era for God’s Own Country. No room for hate. We will not allow anyone to even lay a finger on our communal harmony.
— V D Satheesan (@vdsatheesan) October 24, 2026
Recently, vlogger Amrit Singh Darren posted a video on Instagram from his visit to Kashi Art Café in Fort Kochi. Anticipating a reaction from the Congress-led government in Kerala, the vlogger starts the video by stating that if something untoward happened to him after posting the video, the Kerala government would be responsible for it.
In the video, Amrit Singh added pictures from Kashi Art Café, showing portraits of Mohammad Ali Jinnah displayed on a wall and the beef dishes being offered on the menu.
What the vlogger exposed
The beef dishes on the menu included “Beef Steak”, “Minced Beef Omelette” and “Asian Fried Beef Bowl”. The vlogger expressed shock over the display of Jinnah’s portraits inside the cafe. “When I entered the cafe, I was shocked to the core. This was the first time I saw Jinnah’s picture openly being displayed in India,” the vlogger said.
He questioned why the Kerala government allowed the portraits of Jinnah, who was responsible for the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan, to be displayed openly in the state. “He (Jinnah) was responsible for thousands of Hindus and Sikhs being slaughtered and women being raped during the partition,” the vlogger said. He was further shocked to see dishes on the menu of the cafe, which is named after a holy Hindu religious site associated with Lord Shiva.
The vlogger is facing legal action from the Kerala government for merely showing the reality that exists right under its nose. Interestingly, the Instagram page of Kashi Art Café itself has several posts showing Jinnah’s portraits displayed on its wall.
Many of the posts on the cafe’s Instagram profile show pictures of its menu, in which a variety of dishes containing beef are visible.
Satheesan’s stand on the issue is not at all surprising, as his party is receiving the support of the Indian Union Muslim League in the state. His government is often accused of indulging in Muslim appeasement under the pressure of its political ally, the IUML.
Pertinently, the IUML is an offshoot of the Jinnah-led Muslim League that played a leading role in the partition of India. The party has links with Jammat-e-Islami and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which are accused by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of spreading radicalism in Kerala.
Recently, the Kerala CM was seen defending his party’s alliance with the IUML by claiming that the latter was a necessary evil. He said that if the IUML is not there, its place will be taken by extremist outfits, suggesting that the IUML does not have an extremist ideology.
#ExpressAdda | “In Kerala, (if) the Indian Union Muslim League is weakened, who will take their space? Extreme outfits…,” says Keralam CM V.D. Satheesan (@vdsatheesan). When asked if the UDF govt was coming under pressure from the IUML, listen in to what he had to say. Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://t.co/oWTvPXcChY
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) October 24, 2026
He also clarified that his government is not acting under the pressure of the IUML, which he described as a secular party. “This is not the 1940s’ Muslim League. The Indian Union Muslim League is a different party. They are having a secular approach. They have been with us for the last four or five decades,” CM Satheesan said.
