3 min readThiruvananthapuramUpdated: Jun 30, 2022 02:20 AM IST
A DAY after a tailor was hacked to death in Udaipur by two men for allegedly sharing remarks made by BJP’s Nupur Sharma on the Prophet, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday condemned the killing.
“If somebody who has been indoctrinated from the age of five or six, what they call the Muslim Law, which provides for beheading. This law is taught in madrasas, so if they get indoctrinated, influenced by that, if they act accordingly, I think the better course would be to tackle the disease,’’ Khan told reporters.
“Unfortunately, we are concerned about the manifestations of the symptoms. We refuse to take notice of the deeper disease. Islam is totally different; this is not Islam. This is not the message from the Scripture,’’ the Governor said.
Chief Minister Vijayan in his reaction said the Udaipur incident reminded that communalism would wipe away the last speck of virtue from human beings.
“The killing is a grim warning that the biggest challenge that the country faces is growth of communal extremism. It shows how Islamic fundamentalism could induce Hindutva extremism and vice versa,” he said.
Vijayan said this is the time the people should firmly decide that communalism would not be allowed in the name of any religion.
“People belonging to all religions should unite, recognising the fact that the answer to one communalism is not another communalism, but secularism. All religious organisations, which believe in secularism, should deplore the killing and raise their voice against communalism,” he said. “Let us pledge that the country will not be consigned to communal forces, and all will stand united to maintain peace and unity.”
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Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan described the Udaipur killing as heinous, dastardly. “Religious extremism drives human beings to inhumane acts. The religious extremists want to trigger a riot in the country. Faith should be driven to spirituality. Then only, a person can be tolerant towards others, embrace everything, upholding love and peace. Religious faith is not a path of cruelty. Governments should come forward to tackle religious extremism of all nature,” he said.
BJP state president K Surendran said Kerala is also facing a situation similar to Rajasthan. “The brutal killing is a warning to CPI(M) government in Kerala, which encourages religious extremism. Pinarayi is promoting extremism with an eye on vote banks. Last week, a group of SDPI men brutally tortured and tried a young CPI(M) worker for hours in Kozhikode. But the CPI(M) did not react to the incident to protect its vote bank politics,” said Surendran.
