‘Vijayan wants to equate Hamas with the community’: Union minister's rejoinder after Kerala CM's ‘poisonous’ remark

Both the Union minister and Kerala CM embroiled in a war of words after the former wrote a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) condemning the Kerala blasts.

Published on: Oct 30, 2023, 14:16:52 IST

By HT News Desk

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Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday alleged Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan of being tolerant towards radical elements, radicalisation a day after the CM accused the Union minister of doing ‘appeasement politics’ and threated legal action for communally-charged remarks after the series of blasts in state's Kalamassey area.

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar (PTI)

“I never spoke about any particular community. I specifically mentioned 'Hamas'. It is almost as if Pinarayi Vijayan wants to equate Hamas with the community,” the Union minister said at a presser.

Also read: ‘Poisonous will keep spitting poison’: CM Vijayan snubs Union minister for his remark after Kerala blasts

Chandrasekhar referred to an online address by former Hamas chief Khaled Mashal during a pro-Palestine rally in Malappuram on October 28 and said, “Both the Left and Congress have been allowing radical elements to grow in the state.”

Both the Union minister and Kerala CM embroiled in a war of words after the former wrote a series of post on X (formerly Twitter) condemning the blasts at a community centre that killed 3 people, including a 12-year-old, and slamming the Kerala government of doing ‘appeasement politics’.

"Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel, when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent Christiansm," Chandrasekhar said referring to a pro-Palestine protest held in Delhi in which Vijayan participated.

“Those who are poisonous will keep spitting poison,” Vijayan said with an indirect reference to Chandrasekhar during a media interaction on Sunday, adding, “One of the Union Ministers made a statement that I am engaging in appeasement politics and protesting against Israel.”

In a rejoinder, the Union minister alleged the Kerala CM of using communalism argument as a shield to hide his inefficiency as a (state's) home minister. He also quoted the Elathur train attack in which the incident was earlier dismissed by terming it an act of a mentally-ill person, only to be discovered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) later that the accused had terror links.

“Whether it is the Kozhikode attempt to burn a train which would have caused, if he had succeeded over 200-300 deaths and the characterization of that person as being mentally ill till it was revealed that he was an ISIS sympathizer, and that was a deliberate attempt at terrorism. There is a history of appeasement of radical elements by both the Congress and the Left in Kerala,” he said.

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