Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday rejected the opposition demand to call a meeting of religious heads and community leaders over the controversy around Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt’s statement on ‘narcotic jihad’.
Vijayan told the state assembly that there was no need to call any such meeting in the present scenario, the state’s communal fabric was very strong, and that nobody can vitiate the atmosphere and instigate hatred.
“I don’t find any need to call such a meeting. Kerala is known for its communal amity and brotherhood, and nobody can dent it,” he told the assembly.
The Congress-led opposition United Democratic Front and a section of religious heads have been demanding that the government convene an all-party and all-religion meeting.
On 23 September, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suresh Gopi claimed that the Centre will call a meeting of Christian leaders in view of the statement by the Bishop of Pala Diocese of the Syro-Malabar that after “love jihad”, Catholic girls and youth were becoming victims of a “well-orchestrated narcotic jihad” in Kerala.
Pinarayi Vijayan, who earlier described the religious leader’s statement as “unfortunate and uncalled for”, told the assembly that there was no need to discuss “a non-issue”.
Addressing a church ceremony in Kottayam on September 9, the Bishop appeared to target people from the Muslim community.
“Wherever arms are not used, narcotic drugs are being used and Catholic girls turn victims. Some groups are functioning in the state to support them. To understand this, one needs to analyse how women from other religions landed in the Islamic State camps,” he said. The Bishop was referring to the trip of 21 people, including five people who converted to Islam, from north Kerala to Afghanistan in 2016.
The Bishop later sought to justify his statement in the church mouthpiece, ‘Deepika’, and attack his critics. “Those who insist that once should not talk about the evils that befall his own community are silently encouraging such things to flourish. Instead of ignoring the warnings, attempts should be made to discuss and study these issues to prevent such social evils,” he said, adding that pseudo secularists were trying to suppress voices that point out evils in the society. He said while secularism remained the core of the country pseudo-secularism will destroy the country
