Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on March 6 (Wednesday) sought to project Kerala as an island of secularism in a turbulent sea of religious intolerance, sectarian violence and communal unrest.
Mr. Vijayan was speaking at a politically significant interaction with Muslim community representatives ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Heads of influential Muslim social organisations, members of Mohalla committees, imams, students and teachers from madrasas, and religious preachers participated in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s Muslim outreach programme, titled INSAF, at the Kerala Legislative Assembly complex in Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr. Vijayan projected Kerala as an oasis of safety, freedom, welfare, development and prosperity for minorities, allusively giving a reason why they should pitch for the LDF in the national elections.
Mr. Vijayan said attempts to “demonise Muslims and other minorities as fifth-columnists and treacherous extremists” were rife in the country.
He claimed that Kerala stood tall in the hour of deepening darkness. He said the State was a staunch and unwavering bulwark against well-entrenched political attempts to socially and economically marginalise Muslims and other minorities.
Mr. Vijayan recalled the incidents of alleged communal violence against minorities in Manipur, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Mr. Vijayan contrasted these with the “communally harmonious, democratic and peaceful polity” in Kerala and obliquely attributed the accomplishment to LDF’s “unflinchingly secular politics.”
“We all know the socio-political reasons why Kerala remains a beacon of secularism and freedom. There have been no communal riots, conflagrations or instances of religious intolerance in the State in years. Minorities have felt safe and secure in Kerala than in any other part of the country,” he added.
‘Social trauma’
Mr. Vijayan said minorities in several other regions were “living in a state of fear and deep insecurity.”
“Certain dispositions had used bulldozers to raze minority community’s houses, business establishments and places of religious worship, causing intense and enduring social trauma”, Mr Vijayan said.
He said a well-entrenched attempt was afoot to erase the country’s religious, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity and supplant it with a domineeringly nationalistic, majoritarian-natured, alien and socially disruptive homogeneity.
Mr. Vijayan said some powers deliberately blurred the Constitutional line that clearly and forcefully separated religion and politics. “The country’s development and progress had brought little dividends to minority communities in other States. The Sachar Committee report categorised the country’s Muslims as more marginalised and impoverished than members of the Dalit community,” he said.
He said Kerala’s secularism and communal harmony had prompted right-wing propagandists to portray the State in a poor light on mainstream and social media.
Mr. Vijayan said the government wanted the State to emerge as a knowledge economy. “We will ensure that no community is left behind and every section has a stake, role and dividend in achieving the goal”, he added.
