Kerala Chief Minister said the Centre’s policies were treating Muslims as “second-class citizens” and deliberately alienating them from the mainstream.
Chief Minister was addressing a large gathering at the Putharikandam grounds.
He also praised the Kerala Yatra led by Kanthapuram A P Abubacker Musliyar, he said such initiatives played a crucial role in resisting divisive politics.
Pinarayi Vijayan Targets Centre, Says Its Laws Marginalise Muslims
Kerala chief minister also urged people to remain vigilant against attempts to divide society along religious, racial, caste or linguistic lines.
Summary
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Centre, alleging that laws such as the Citizenship Act and the newly enacted Waqf Act were designed to marginalise Muslims and push them to the fringes of public life.
Speaking at the concluding session of the Kerala Yatra—an outreach programme organised by the Kerala Muslim Jamaat—Vijayan said the Centre’s policies were treating Muslims as “second-class citizens” and deliberately alienating them from the mainstream. The yatra began in Kasaragod on January 1 and concluded in Thiruvananthapuram after traversing the length of the state.
Addressing a large gathering at the Putharikandam grounds, the chief minister warned that secularism, democracy and constitutional values were under serious threat, as minority communities—particularly Muslims and Christians—and their places of worship were facing increasing attacks across the country.
Vijayan said communal polarisation could not be countered by pitting majority communalism against minority communalism, arguing that both forces ultimately reinforce each other. “The only way forward is to strengthen secularism,” he said.
Rejecting what he described as a “soft stand” or “appeasement” towards communal forces, the Marxist veteran called such approaches “dangerous.” He pointed to Kerala’s history of communal violence and said the state had been able to overcome those phases due to the firm and uncompromising stand taken by the Left Democratic Front against all forms of communalism.
The chief minister also urged people to remain vigilant against attempts to divide society along religious, racial, caste or linguistic lines. Praising the Kerala Yatra led by Kanthapuram A P Abubacker Musliyar, he said such initiatives played a crucial role in resisting divisive politics.
“At a time when conscious efforts are being made to separate people in the name of religion or race, movements like these act as a strong defence,” Vijayan said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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