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No all-party meet to discuss Bishop’s statement, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Addressing a church ceremony in Kottayam on September 9, the Bishop spoke out against a particular community saying that Catholic girls and youth were targeted by it. The Bishop’s statement had triggered a war of words between different communities and opposition parties urged the government to call an all-party meeting.
The Kerala government has no plans of calling an all-party meeting to discuss the situation arising out of the controversial statement of Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt on “love jihad” and “narcotic jihad,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.
The chief minister said the religious leader’s statement was “unfortunate and uncalled for” and both (love jihad and narcotic jihad) were not based on any statistics or fact. The Bishop’s statement had triggered a war of words between different communities and opposition parties urged the government to call an all-party meeting.
“How can we call an all-party meeting on such non-issues? Both are non-existent. We don’t want to call a meeting on non-existent issues. Some people are trying to exploit the situation by whipping them up and we have to isolate them first,” the CM said reeling out statistics.
He said the government has information that about 100 people joined the Islamic State (IS) till 2019. Out of these 72 slipped out from countries (mainly middle-east) where they were working. This is the first time the government is admitting that 100 people from the state joined the IS.
“Out of 72, 71 are Muslims. And some of the people who went to IS-held areas from north Kerala were converted much earlier. There are no complaints that some women were converted and forcibly taken to war-torn areas,” he said. Even the Union government and many courts had made it clear that such a practice never existed. He said after 21 people left from north Kerala in 2016 the special branch of police started several re-radicalisation camps to bring youngsters who were attracted to extremist forces back to the mainstream.
He reiterated that social evils like narcotics have no religion and it is highly improper to put into the account of a particular religion. He said in 2020 around 4941 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and 5422 people were arrested in connection with them.
“Out of these Hindus were 2700 (49.80%), Muslims 1869 (34.47%) and 853 (15. 73%) belonged to Christianity. It shows offenders belonged to all religions. Such crimes are not based on religions. There are no unusual numbers from any particular community either,” the CM said adding that some forces were trying to fish in troubled waters and their attempts would be stopped. He said strict action will be taken against those who vitiate the communal fabric of the state. When asked whether any action will be taken against the Bishop he said he had already made it clear no case will be registered against him. He criticised the opposition Congress and BJP for exploiting the issue for political gains. Opposition leaders are yet to react to the CM’s statement.
Addressing a church ceremony in Kottayam on September 9, the Bishop came out against a particular community saying that Catholic girls and youth were targeted by it.
“Wherever arms are not used, narcotic drugs are being used and Catholic girls turn victims. Some groups are functioning in the state to support them. To understand this, one needs to analyse how women from other religions landed in the Islamic State camps,” he said. He was referring to the trip of 21 people, including five converts to Islam, from north Kerala to Afghanistan in 2016.
Muslim leaders request Bishop to withdraw statement
A delegation of Muslim leaders in Kozhikode (north Kerala) on Wednesday requested Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt to withdraw his controversial statement. Many leaders said his statement had led to a polarisation and it was ideal for the religious leader to withdraw his statement that squarely blamed a particular community.
“We request the Bishop to withdraw his statement. It will help pacify frayed tempers. We all are duty bound to keep amity and brotherhood for which the state is known. We also request the government to call an all-party meeting,” said Muslim League leader Sadiq Ali Shahib Ali Thangal. He said it was not ideal for a religious head to criticise another community citing a social evil and he said Muslim leaders had kept calm amid the row..
On Monday, Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis, head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic church, had also convened a meeting of religious leaders. After the meeting, the Cardinal said it was called neither to neither support nor criticise anyone but just to remind and request all to maintain peace and harmony in the state. The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the highest body of Catholics, has called a meeting on Friday to discuss the issue.
CM welcomes Covid-19 relief
The CM welcomed the decision to pay compensation to Covid19 victims but he said it is quite unfair that states will have to take the whole responsibility. “We all know the poor economic condition of states after the Covid-19 pandemic set in. We hope the Centre will adequately compensate states,” he said adding virus cases were dipping slowly.
Kerala reported 19,675 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday with a test positivity rate of 16.45% after 1,19, 594 tests. It also reported 142 deaths while the death toll crossed 24,000 (24,039).
