MALAPPURAM: Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s remarks that “extreme outfits” will take over if the Indian Union Muslim League is weakened in Keralam has sparked significant backlash, with the CPM accusing him of insulting the Muslim community and challenging the state’s secular fabric.
Criticising the CM for his remarks on Muslims during a Q&A with TNIE, the CPM Malappuram district secretariat asked the Congress and IUML to clarify whether they shared Satheesan’s view that all Muslims would become extremists in the absence of the League.
In the interview, Satheesan had said that the IUML acted as a crucial political buffer in Keralam. “Suppose in Keralam the League is weakened... who will take its space? Extreme outfits will,” he had said, while crediting the IUML for keeping those radical elements at bay.
In a statement, the CPM said the remark that Muslims were waiting to embrace extremism insulted the community and Keralam as a whole.
“Through such remarks, the chief minister is also challenging the secularism and brotherhood that define Keralam,” it said.
The statement said an overwhelming majority of Muslims in Keralam upheld secularism and brotherhood.
“It is through brotherhood that Keralam society and the Muslim community have always lived,” it said.
Meanwhile, K P Naushad Ali, the Congress MLA from Ponnani, backed Satheesan. He said Satheesan’s interview in TNIE, which drew national attention, had established a political narrative that countered BJP’s persistent criticism of the League.
He said Satheesan had highlighted the IUML’s contributions over the decades to maintaining communal harmony.