THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The growing trend of equating social evils with some sections of society needs to be "nipped in the bud" as doing so will only exacerbate the communal differences in society, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday, apparently referring to the controversial 'narcotic jihad' remark by a Catholic Bishop.
The statement by the CM came in the wake of repeated criticism by the opposition with regard to the alleged lack of any steps being taken by his administration to assuage the concerns raised by a particular section of society in reference to the Pala Bishop's remarks.
Vijayan, while speaking at the inauguration of the centenary of a historical student agitation at Travancore in 1921, said that those giving prominence to social evils or engaged in unlawful activities or acting against general public interests should not be clubbed with any particular section of society.
"Doing so will not strengthen societal or communal unity. Instead, it will only serve to exacerbate the communal differences in society," he said.
He further said that glorifying terror organisations or equating them with symbols of freedom struggles would "weaken the communal harmony in society and endanger our freedom."
On Sree Narayana Guru's death anniversary, Vijayan referred to the sage's teachings to rise above and beyond caste and religion and said that people should pledge to oppose those forces which use religion and caste as "weapons" to divide society on communal lines.
Earlier in the day, the CM, in a Facebook post, said that narrow interests should not be allowed to undermine our unity as no religion or a nation is greater than man.
The CM's remark came on the occasion of Sree Narayana Guru's death anniversary.
Hailing the contribution of Guru in transforming Kerala as a modern society, he said the obstacles in the path of becoming a community as envisioned by the sage were racist ideology and the remnants of the caste system, which are still strong enough to "embarrass us".
Vijayan, in his Facebook post, also said that people ought to "proclaim out loud that a religion and a nation are not greater than man. No narrow interests can be allowed to undermine our unity".
"...let us pledge on this day that we will stand together for the common good of the country. May that unity take our country to new heights," he said, adding that we have to go a long way to fulfil Guru's dream.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan also tweeted a message on the occasion, saying "My pranams to #SreeNarayanaGuru, on his Samadhi day. #Guru placed the human being at the centre of all existence, and advocated self improvement by individuals as the only hope for the society and the world."
The CM, in his post, also said that the Guru gave priority to the essence of man above all else and was critical of Brahmanism and the ideas of sectarianism, which are the basis of the caste-feudal system.