On Saturday, K Surendran, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala, slammed state CM Pinarayi Vijayan for criticizing the Jamaat-e-Islami for engaging in discussions with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The leader of the BJP in Kerala emphasized that certain individuals have a strong intolerance towards Muslims and Hindus coexisting peacefully.
“Some people are deeply dissatisfied with the amiable atmosphere with all religious minorities. Some people are very intolerant of Hindus and Muslims living in harmony. CPIM and Congress always want these two religions to fight,” he said.
He added that there was nothing wrong with people of different minds getting along. “They are the ones who are now issuing a large number of statements against this discussion. There is nothing wrong with people of different minds getting along. Those who are undermining it have been using the Muslim vote bank for political purposes all this time,” he stated.
K Surendran made the comments a day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised Jamaat-e-Islami for holding dialogues with RSS. In a statement, Vijayan said the stand of the Jamaat-e-Islami that discussions with Sangh Parivar are needed, notwithstanding the differences with it, shows the hypocrisy of the Muslim organisation. He also demanded that the Islamic organization should disclose what was discussed in the meeting with RSS.
“The logic of Jamaat-e-Islami that the RSS is an organization that can be reformed and transformed through dialogue is like thinking that a leopard’s print can be washed away by bathing it. What is even more strange that their argument that the discussion was held to present the common problems of the Indian minorities before the RSS which controls the country’s administration. Jamaat-e-Islami leadership should clarify what was discussed with the RSS and what was the content of the meeting,” he said.
“At a time when the secular community in the country is fighting against the Hindutva agenda of the RSS, these steps would only help favour their agenda. This a challenge to the secular society,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami general secretary T Arif Ali stated that the meeting between the two organizations should be seen positively. “Nothing wrong with having meetings. The mass lynching and bulldozer politics had emerged in the discussion. When attacks against the Muslims are on the rise, we have asked the RSS to make an earnest effort to stop such incidents,” he said.
Hitting further at the Chief Minister, the state BJP chief accused the state government of being involved in scams. “Additional Private Secretary CM Raveendran is the mastermind behind all the scams. The chats between M Sivasankar, former principal secretary of the Kerala CMO and prime accused Swapna Suresh in the LIFE Mission Scam case surfaced. The chats also mentioned the name of Raveendran,” he said.
“Pinarayi Vijayan and CM Raveendran are two bodies but one soul. CM Raveendran is at the helm of all the transactions of Pinaravi Viiayan. It is something that everyone knows. Raveendran is the mastermind behind all the scams being done for the Chief Minister. So if we say Raveendran’s involvement, it directly means the Chief Minister’s involvement,” he added.
Notably, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s office has been facing allegations of corruption since the gold smuggling scam broke, highlighting the involvement of his former principal secretary M Sivasankar and minister KT Jaleel. Recently, the ED took M Sivasankar on a 5-day remand to interrogate him about the Life Mission Scam on February 16.
Life Mission was a government project to provide free housing for the homeless victims of Kerala floods in 2018. Irregularities in the scheme came to light when the ED was probing the gold smuggling case. BJP chief, following Sivasankar’s detention, stated that the CM has no moral right to continue being in the power.
