Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 17 (PTI) Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Monday lashed out at the ruling CPI(M) and alleged the Left party was engaged in a communal campaign at Vatakara Lok Sabha constituency and the Malabar region.
In a statement, Satheesan said senior leaders of the Left party were making communal statements and asked the state police and the government to take necessary actions.
“The CPI(M) was engaged in a communal campaign in Vatakara and the Malabar region which will put even the Sangh Parivar to shame. The communal statements were made by the known CPI(M) leaders. It is the responsibility of the state government to take action against those who made such heinous communal campaigns,” the senior Congress leader said.
He also said the Congress-led United Democratic Front will initiate strong protests if the police refuse to take action.
A section of Left leaders in Kerala had raised an issue saying activists of the IUML — a key ally of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala — allegedly referred to Shailaja ‘Teacher’, the LDF candidate in the Vatakara Lok Sabha seat, as a “kafir” (meaning ‘non-believer’ among various interpretations, some unpleasant) during campaigning for the April 26 Lok Sabha polls.
The post was spread under the name of an Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) worker. However, recently, Kerala police had filed a report in a court saying that the post was a fake one made under his name.
“Now it has been proved that the Kafir remarks at Vatakara were a CPI(M) creation. The CPI(M) took the same method that the Sangh Parivar uses to divide Kerala,” Satheesan alleged.
He said even senior CPI(M) leaders forgot that such tactics yield short-lived victories but it leaves deep social wounds in the long run.
The ‘kafir’ remarks were used by both the LDF and the UDF to attack each other in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
UDF candidate Shafi Pramabil won the seat defeating Left leader K K Shailaja in the general elections. PTI RRT RRT SS
