Religious belief and communalism are two different things, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Sunday urging those who believe in secularism to come forward and fight all forms of communalism prevailing in the country. Vijayan attacked the Sangh Parivar alleging that the grouping was trying to create a rift among the minority communities in the country and said it was engaged in a systematic agenda to alter the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.
Inaugurating a national seminar on the topic, "The world of EMS", organised as part of the 113th birth anniversary of communist stalwart E M S Namboodiripad, Vijayan criticised the Union government over its decision on abrogating Article 370 which gave special status for Jammu and Kashmir. "News reports of attacks against minority communities including Muslims and Christians are coming from across the country. This agenda of the Sangh Parivar is not part of its so called 'aarsha bharatha' culture. It's not propagated by any of the sages. It's not there in any of the Vedas or Puranas. But they are following the Nazi propaganda of Hitler," Vijayan said. He said the Sangh Parivar was buttering up the Christian community in Kerala but the same community was being attacked in neighbouring Karnataka. "They are trying to create a rift among the minority communities. We can see an example of that in Kerala. Sangh Parivar says they are with one particular community. Why? What we need to understand is that religious belief and communalism are two different things. Those who believe in secularism should come forward and oppose communalism," he said. He said believers have a major role in countering communalism.
The Left leader said the communal agenda of the Sangh Parivar has fuelled "minority communalism". "Those who propagate minority communalism think they can protect the whole community. However, what they don't understand is that a form of communalism cannot be countered with another form of communalism. We need to fight communalism with secularism," Vijayan said. The Chief Minister said the Union government had claimed that the issues in Jammu and Kashmir will be solved with the abrogation of Article 370.
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"Jammu and Kashmir was divided into pieces violating the promise given to the people of that region. The Union government claimed that the issues will be solved by the abrogation. But that did not happen and the people are still suffering which proves that their claim was wrong," he said. Addressing the crowd gathered at Malappuram, Vijayan said the current Left government was following in the footsteps of the first Communist government led by Namboodiripad. The Chief Minister said Namboodiripad was the architect of modern Kerala.
(With PTI Inputs)
