Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed concern at the blurring of lines between politics and religion after Prime Minister Narendra Modi officiated as the 'yajman' or patron at arguably the most high-profile Hindu religious event held in independent India.
"Indian secularism means the separation of religion and state. We even have a strong tradition of maintaining that separation. However, of late, the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be getting thinner and thinner. This is a major departure from the times when our constitutional office bearers have been cautioned from taking part in religious events, as it would cast aspersions on our credentials as a secular state," Vijayan said in a statement.
The statement comes after the culmination of developments that have seen a lot of build-up in recent days. Today, a new temple was consecrated at Ayodhya on a spot where a 500-year-old mosque used to stand till 1992. The Babri Masjid was brought down by a mob assembled by political leaders, notably LK Advani of the BJP.
"Religion is a private affair and the Indian Constitution has minced no words in stating that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and have the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion.
"As those who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of India, we ought to ensure that every person within our territories enjoys this right in equal measure. At the same time, we cannot be promoting one religion above all others, or demean one religion beneath every other," Vijayan added.
Vijayan is from the CPI(M) -- a party that has been an advocate of the classic version of secularism -- and has been more hardline on this subject that the main opposition Congress Party, which has sought to redefine secularism by including all religions in politics to an equal degree, instead of excluding all religions.
This time, the Indian National Congress did decide to boycott today's function, claiming that it was being set up more like a function to glorify the prime minister and his party, rather than a religious function conducted according to religious norms.
The Kerala Chief Minister said that he was also invited to participate in today's function, but declined it to uphold his Constitutional responsibilities.
Warning against getting distracted from bread-and-butter issues such as development, Vijayan said the country should remain on the path of economic and social progress, instead of turning its face backwards into the past.
"May India prosper further by developing scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform," he said in the statement.