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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched a scathing attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the latter's jibe against the southern state, and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party leader to explain what danger he had sensed in Kerala.
Vijayan, a veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader, addressed a party programme near Kottayam on Sunday, saying that minorities were constantly being targeted in BJP-ruled states, but they live peacefully in Left-ruled Kerala.
"Everyone knows the situation in Kerala. Amit Shah should tell what is wrong here...minorities in Karnataka face widespread attacks whereas religious minorities are safe in Kerala," the chief minister said, adding that Kerala is the only place where the 'communal propaganda of Sangh Parivar' is not working.
During a visit to Dakshina Kannada district in neighbouring Karnataka on Saturday, Amit Shah told a public gathering that 'there is Kerala at your neighbourhood' in an indirect reference to the crackdown on several leaders of Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), which was banned last year, and urged people to vote for the BJP in the poll-bound state.
To this, CM Vijayan said as a home minister, Shah should have said that people are living harmoniously in Kerala and such a situation should be created in places where the BJP is currently in power.
"Our bordering areas in Karnataka, including Mangaluru, have witnessed many communal violence. A 150-year-old church in Chikmagalur was attacked by the Sangh Parivar in 2021 Christmas season. Christians and other minorities have faced many such attacks from Sangh Parivar. But is this the situation in Kerala?... No one faces any issues in Kerala because of their faith," Vijayan said.
The senior Left leader pointed out that various indices show that Kerala has the best law and order situation in the country and practises secularism.
"However, the Sangh Parivar thrives on communalism and communal violence. They want to divert the attention of people from real issues and their misgovernance," Vijayan claimed.
The CPI-M politburo member also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had claimed that the Left party and the Congress have strangely chosen 'dosti' (friendship) in Tripura as against their normal 'kushti' (wrestling) in Kerala.
Vijayan claimed that the BJP is opposed in Tripura as they had taken an illegal route to establish its presence there.
He alleged that the BJP which never had any influence in Tripura took over the leaders and party mechanism from the Congress party.
"The BJP has become a destructive force in this nation. If one more chance is given to BJP, it will be catastrophic for this country," Vijayan said.
He further said the regional parties which are influential in each state have come together to fight the Sangh Parivar.
The Marxist veteran also attacked the Congress and said it has become a 'recruiting party' for the BJP.
"Senior leaders including AICC members, former Union ministers, parliamentarians, state ministers, state PCC chiefs -- all of them are working for BJP now. They should accept the reality. To face the BJP, they should be ready to oppose the policies of the BJP. The BJP is endangering secularism in this country," he claimed.
Vijayan asked the Congress to take a strong stand against communalism in order to protect secularism.
He also attacked the state leadership of the Congress and said it was being led by a chief who claimed that he will go to BJP if he wishes to do so.
"A person who openly admits that he will go to BJP is right now heading Congress in the state. Have they taken any action? No, they are weak to face the BJP," Vijayan said.
He also claimed Congress MPs were tarnishing the image of the state in Parliament instead of batting for the development aspects of Kerala.