THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Thiruvananthapuram: Minister Saji Cherian has clarified his controversial statements, including his assertion that the Muslim League practices politics that promotes communalism. He said his statements are being distorted and the public is being misled. The minister explained that he meant that there should not be a situation where Muslim-majority areas are led by the Muslim League and Hindu-majority areas are led by the BJP. Saji Cherian made this clarification while speaking to the media on Monday morning. The minister said, “The communalism being spread by the RSS must be opposed. The communalism being spread by the RSS cannot be countered by minority communalism. To achieve this, the Left in Kerala must be strengthened. There are 39 seats in the Kasaragod Municipality. Despite maintaining secularism, we won only one seat there. The Congress won two seats. The BJP, which advocates communal politics, won 12 seats, and the League won 22 seats.
I simply asked for their names to be read. I simply wish that a similar situation does not arise anywhere else in Kerala. In Kerala, the Chief Minister has stood with the minorities on all issues. There has never been a single communal riot in Kerala under Left rule.” Earlier, Saji Cherian had said that to understand the communal polarization being created by the UDF, one need only look at the names of those who won in the local body elections in Malappuram.
He also said that similar situations are occurring in many states across India. He said, “Read the names of those who won the Malappuram District Panchayat elections. What is the state of our country? You should not allow anyone to turn Kerala into Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh.” Meanwhile, Youth Congress leader Anoop V.R. Chengannur has filed a police complaint against Saji Cherian for his statement. The complaint was sent via email. It alleges that the minister’s statements promote communal hatred and violate his oath of office.
