By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Thiruvananthapuram: Christian and Muslim communalism is growing in Kerala and it is hard to control, said the state Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan. The Opposition leader maintains they are a secular party but there is Christian-Muslim communalism under their curtain of secularism, he said at the face-to-face programme organized by the Kesari Memorial Trust.
The Chief Minister said that secularism was only mere talk for the Congress. The two Kerala Congresses merged to become the second-biggest party in the UDF and religious priests have influenced the decision. The Muslim League held secret talks with the Jamat e Islami so as not to lose the position of second-biggest party in the front. The League had to speak against it afterwards as the talks bore no fruits.
When asked if he thought the Jamat e Islami was a terrorist organisation, he replied that the organisation’s policies were like that only. He added that even those who wanted to keep the JIH with them had said that JIH was communal. When asked about the good certificate given to JIH by the LDF in the last elections, he said that the LDF had not done so and that he had not heard the CPI (M) state general secretary Pinarayi Vijayan opine so.
In another development, the Kerala Congress chairman KM Mani (MLA) accused the CPI (M) and its general secretary Pinarayi Vijayan of creating communalism in Kerala politics. The CPI (M) is trying to play the communal card as it knows it has no way to win the coming elections, added Mr Mani. The Kerala Congress led by PJ Joseph had recently merged with the Kerala Congress led by Mr Mani. PJ Joseph was a minister in the ruling LDF and his merging with the party of Mani who is in the UDF prior to the elections had created problems in both the fronts. There have been allegations that the merger came by the influence of the Christian Churches and priests. The Muslim League had held secret talks with the Jamat e Islami which had announced its entry into the election field in the up-coming three-tier panchayat elections. However, the League leaders later denied any connections or alliance with the Jamat as strong opposition came from within the party against any relation with the Jamat which had earlier supported the LDF.
The new attack of the CM against religious minorities has come at a time when political parties are busy making and un-making alliances for the up-coming three-tier panchayat elections. Mr Achuthanandan had earlier also made anti-minority statements when he was the Opposition leader. However, the new statements are doubted to be a new line followed by the CPI (M) and the LDF in the coming elections. The LDF is discussing about taking into the alliance the Kerala Congress headed by PC Thomas who had earlier worked with the BJP and is now barred by the Supreme Court from contesting elections for playing the communal card (in a previous election). However, the front has not yet got ready to take the Indian National League in even as the party had always helped and voted for the LDF since its formation. The government has recently withdrawn the Devaswom Bill regarding the administration of Hindu temples due to strong protest from the Nayar Service Society, even by sidelining the support to the bill by the SNDP which has been the LDF’s long-time ally.