KOZHIKODE: Conflicts that erupted between Israel and Palestine in which a Malayali woman was killed have created a political polarisation in the state.BJP has alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former chief minister and AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy were forced to bring changes in their Facebook posts on the issue ‘as they are afraid of the extremists.’
Party leader Sobha Surendran tweeted that the situation in Kerala has become so dangerous that both the leaders had to correct their posts expressing sorrow over the killing of a Malayali because they are afraid of religious extremists. Sangh Parivar alleged that Pinarayi deleted one paragraph from his earlier post on the killing of Soumya Santhosh. Chandy’s earlier post said Soumya was killed in the attack by ‘extremists.’ But it was corrected and the word ‘extremist’ was deleted after protests mounted on social media.
BJP state president K Surendran wanted to know whether the ruling party and the opposition are silent on the killing of Soumya because Hamas extremists are their allies. Supporters of Palestine reminded the Congress about the warm relations India had with Palestine when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister. They posted old photographs of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat with Indira. At the same time CPM politburo has issued a statement against the ‘Israeli attack on Palestine.’ It said “the air raids carried out by Israel on the Gaza strip led to the death of many Palestinian citizens.”
“Israel is moving towards the complete occupation of East Jerusalem by attacking Palestinians who were protesting its attempt to forcefully expel residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood to make way for Jewish settlements,” the statement said.It added that “Netanyahu, who had repeatedly failed to win a majority in the Israel elections, launched these attacks for petty political gains.”
“The CPM condemns these acts and calls upon the Government of India to voice its support to the people of Palestine,” the statement said.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a carefully-worded letter to Union Minister for Foreign Affairs S Jaishankar to intervene to bring back the body of Soumya, ‘who was killed in Israel in an airstrike.’
Muslim organisations in Kerala have stepped up their protest after violence escalated in the Gaza region. Many organisations have asked believers to stand with the people of Palestine while celebrating Id-ul Fitr. Palestine Ambassador to India Adnan Abul Hayjaa will be the chief guest at the online function to be organized by Muslim Youth League in Kozhikode on the Id-ul Fitr day to express solidarity with Palestine.