THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Casteism still remains in the hearts of some people even a century after Sree Narayana Guru’s preachings. These people become intolerant when the guru is hailed as the torchbearer of Kerala’s history, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday.
The chief minister was referring to the Centre’s rejection of Kerala’s proposal to present a tableau portraying Guru at the latest Republic Day celebrations. He was delivering the inaugural address at the public meeting as part of Sree Narayana Guru’s birth anniversary celebrations at Chempazhanthy.
Pinarayi said people who try to divide society by creating hatred between religions and castes will become irrelevant in history. Pinarayi said the Left governments in Kerala took steps to bolster the ideals of Guru.
He cited the case of educational reforms initiated by the 1957 government led by EMS and the general education protection mission launched by the 2016 government led by himself. He said his government took several steps to spread the message and ideals of Guru. They ranged from the installation of a guru statue in Thiruvananthapuram to the Open University in the name of Guru.