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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Wednesday condemned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's remarks on Sanatan Dharma, accusing him of insulting Hinduism to secure extremist votes. He also challenged Vijayan to make similar remarks against other religions.
Speaking to ANI, Poonawalla said, "New year has started but their mindset is the same to insult the Sanatan. The statement made by the Chief Minister of Kerala is part of the long series of statements which have been made recently. Now the Left was feeling that Congress had overtaken them in vote bank politics and to get back that extremist vote bank, they are making all these kinds of abusive insults at Hindu faith and Sanatan. Will they have the courage to say this against any other religion? They don't. But unfortunately, they call this 'Mohabbat ki Dukan'" Poonawalla's remarks came in response to comments made by Vijayan during a speech at the Sivagiri Pilgrimage, where he criticized Sanatan Dharma. On Tuesday while addressing at Sivagiri Pilgrimage, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, "Sanatana Dharma is synonymous with or inseparable from the Varnashrama Dharma, which is based on the Chaturvarna system. What does this Varnashrama Dharma uphold? It glorifies hereditary professions. But what did Sree Narayana Guru do? He called for defiance of hereditary professions. How, then, can Guru be an advocate of Sanatana Dharma?" "Guru's ascetic life was a constant questioning and defiance of the Chaturvarna system. How can someone who proclaimed, "One Caste, One Religion, One God for humankind" be an advocate of Sanatana Dharma, which is rooted in the confines of a single religion? Guru championed a dharma that opposed the caste system," Vijayan added. Earlier, a row erupted on Monday after Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane compared Kerala to "Mini-Pakistan" and stated that the Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi were elected as members of Parliament for precisely this reason. Addressing a rally in Purandar Taluka of Pune district, Rane said, "Kerala is mini Pakistan; that is why Rahul Gandhi and his sister are elected from there. All terrorists vote for them. This is the truth; you can ask. They have become MPs after taking terrorists with them." Following Ranes remarks Communist Party of India (CPI) MP P Sandosh Kumar on Tuesday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to register his protest against the 'controversial' remarks by Minister Nitish Rane on the state of Kerala, and demanded immediate action against him. Following the row after his remark, Rane clarified that Kerala was very much part of India, saying he was merely comparing the situation in Kerala and Pakistan. (ANI)
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