An all-party meeting in Kerala, held on Monday in the backdrop of the hate campaign unleashed after Sunday’s low-intensity blasts at a Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer, has unanimously resolved to isolate communal forces that are desperately trying to destroy the state’s secular social fabric.
The meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and attended by members of ruling and Opposition parties, took stock of the situation arising out of the blasts allegedly triggered by a disgruntled member of the off-mainstream Christian denomination.
“This meeting unanimously declares to fight attempts to sow poisonous seeds of distrust and intolerance with all might,” stated the resolution.
The resolution called on every political party, organisation and individual in the state known for its progressive and secular outlook to isolate and fight communal and divisive forces, without naming any outfit or specific ideology.
It noted how a particular community was targeted soon after the incident, and well before a man named Dominic Martin claimed responsibility for the blasts that left three dead and over 50 injured.
“No hate campaign should be allowed against any belief system… This meeting is of the view that such divisive forces are the enemies of the state and its people,” the meeting resolved.
The meeting took stock of how pro-Hindutva social media handles and even some BJP leaders jumped to conclusions targeting a particular community and the state itself.
“We request the people to defeat all attempts to discredit Kerala, its secular tradition and cultural ethos, based on an isolated incident.”
Leaders of Opposition parties refused to get drawn into any blame game over the blasts and, instead slammed those including minister of state for skill development, Rajeev Chandrashekar, for communalising the incident.
“A central minister commented in bad taste directly accusing our state. He shouldn’t have made such a comment,” leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan told reporters after the meeting.
He was alluding to Chandrashekar’s tweet that had come in for vehement criticism in Kerala.
The central minister had termed the blasts as “appeasement politics” blaming the entire INDIA alliance.
“Brazen appeasement politics — shameless even by Cong/CPM/UPA/INDI alliance standards to invite Terrorist Hamas to spread hate and call for ‘Jihad’ in Kerala,” he had tweeted.
His allusion was to Hamas leader Khaled Mashal virtually attending a pro-Palestine public meeting in Malappuram recently.
Indian Union Muslim League general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, too, slammed Chandrashekar for his tweet. “Yesterday, a central minister tried to fish in troubled waters,” he said after the all-party meeting.
BJP president J.P. Nadda too raked up the virtual presence of the Hamas leader as a sign of the Left government’s softness towards radical forces in the state.
“A few days back a leader of Hamas joined virtually here and spoke openly about Hamas. And this government was a silent spectator. What does it mean? You are bringing a bad name to God’s Own Country, Kerala,” Nadda said, inaugurating an NDA sit-in against alleged misgovernance and corruption in the state, in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
