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Sangh Parivar trying to divide Christians, Muslims, says Kodiyeri

June 27, 2022

CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan addressing a media conference at AKG centre in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. | Photo Credit: S. Mahinsha

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has accused the Sangh Parivar forces of attempting to drive a wedge between Christian and Muslim communities to splinter minority vote and destroy their cohesion against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ‘divisive agenda.’

Interacting with the media after chairing the party’s State committee meeting at AKG Centre on Sunday, Mr. Balakrishnan said Islamist outfits such as the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Welfare Party of India (WPI) aided the BJP’s cause by championing a stubbornly insular view of their faith and ‘othering’ those who adhere to a different belief system.

Mr. Balakrishnan said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had changed tack after losing political ground in Kerala. Under the cover of welfare organisations, the RSS tried to woo marginalised communities to their Hindu majoritarian cause. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had sanctioned the creation of well-funded frontal organisations to undertake education, housing and welfare projects for fishers, and those from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. Islamist outfits also pursued a similar strategy. The CPI(M) would thwart their polarising political gambit.

34 persons arrested

The CPI(M) Wayanad district committee would probe the attack by Students Federation of India (SFI) activists on the regional office of Rahul Gandhi, MP, at Kalpetta. However, Mr. Balakrishnan cautioned the local police against overwhelmingly targetting SFI activists at the behest of local Congress leaders.

Mr. Balakrishnan said the Congress had not denounced the Youth Congress bid on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s life on board an aircraft. Instead, the party hailed the attackers as heroes. It pointed to the Congress leadership’s guilt in the crime. In stark contrast, the CPI(M) condemned the attack on Rahul Gandhi’s office. The government suspended the law and order officer from his duties pending inquiry. The police have so far arrested 34 persons in connection with the incident.

Thrikkakara bypoll

The Congress and the BJP had attempted to create a smokescreen by resurrecting discredited allegations about the political executive’s involvement in the 2020 UAE gold smuggling case. Mr. Balakrishnan said organisational weakness had contributed to the CPI(M) ‘s defeat in the Thrikkakara Assembly byelection. Moreover, BJP, Twenty20 and Islamist outfits had aided UDF’s victory. However, the CPI(M) could marginally increase its vote share despite the heavy odds.

This article first appeared on thehindu.com