Kerala CM accuses Sangh Parivar of treating minorities as 'enemies', BJP hits back
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the Sangh Parivar of treating Muslims and Christians as 'enemies of the nation' and urged everyone to unite against such divisive actions, drawing sharp criticism from the BJP.
Vijayan said the Constitution, which was the best weapon to fight against caste discrimination and religious hatred, was presently under attack.
The CM alleged the Sangh Parivar and the RSS have made it clear that their aim was to turn India into a 'Hindu rashtra'.
He also accused the party in power at the Centre of being followers of a political group which did not take part in the freedom struggle.
"They are attacking the very roots of our country, its democracy and the Constitution," he said while speaking after inaugurating the Constitution Protection Conference and Secular Meet here on Thursday.
In his speech, Vijayan said that if the Constitution was destroyed, everything -- from an individual's dignity to the sovereignty of the country -- would be lost, he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP hit back, saying the CM has no moral right to utter a single word on the Constitution.
BJP state president K Surendran alleged that Vijayan does not give any importance to the Constitution and accused him of 'whitewashing' extremist and terror groups.
The Kerala CM also alleged that besides the attacks on the Constitution, there were also attempts to rewrite history.
Examples of the same that he mentioned were -- the terming of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination as a 'death' and the claims from certain quarters that B R Ambedkar was not one of the drafters of the Constitution.
Apart from that, in some parts of the country Muslims are being termed as the opposite of Hindu, he claimed.
Vijayan claimed that not only religious minorities, but Dalits and tribals were also under threat and were being attacked and exploited in various parts of the country.
The Constitution was one of the best weapons to fight against caste discrimination and religious hatred and therefore, it should be protected against the attacks on it and values upheld by it.
He further alleged the Constitution was under threat from those duty-bound to protect it. Those who take oath on the Constitution were airing dangerous views that were contrary to it.
Vijayan said even persons in the highest Constitutional positions were making statements that could derail Constitutional principles.
One example of the same, according to Vijayan, was the Indian Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar's recent statement which in effect meant that the Supreme Court decision of 1973, upholding the 'basic structure doctrine', was not correct and that the Parliament was sovereign and Judiciary will not be allowed to encroach upon it.
"It is the country which is sovereign and the Constitution ensures it," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Dalit woman, daughter assaulted, dragged on road in MP's Morena over trivial incident; 2 held
Morena, Jan 3: A Dalit woman and her daughter were brutally assaulted on Friday allegedly by two men and then dragged on the road in Morena in Madhya Pradesh following a minor incident involving a dog, a police official said.
A video of the incident, which took place in full public view in Ambah area, went viral on social media.
"Anita Mahor has sustained serious injuries after being hit by sticks and then dragged on the road. Her daughter Bharti is also injured. We have arrested Rajesh Tomar and Kumher Singh Tomar for assaulting them," Ambah police station in charge Satendra Singh Kushwaha said.
"Anita Mahor's son Deepak has told us that his younger brother Santosh was going to throw waste this morning when he was startled by the presence of a dog. He threw the waste, which also included dung, on the dog in fright and fled. This infuriated the two accused," he said.
The two accused and others stormed into Mahor's house armed with a chopper and sticks and attacked her and her kin, police said.
