KANNUR: Condemning the derogatory remarks made by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) state secretary Abdurahiman Kallayi against him and his family, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said that the leader should be able to recognise mothers and sisters.
“What comes out of a person’s mouth is what they practise at home. One’s culture is acquired from their family,” he said, while inaugurating a public meeting held to mark the conclusion of the CPM district conference at Madayi Cooperative Bank auditorium.
Kallayi’s reference to the marriage between Public Works Minister P A Mohamed Riyas and Pinarayi’s daughter Veena Vijayan as ‘illegitimate’ and ‘prostitution’ had garnered widespread criticism. The casteist slogans raised by IUML workers against the chief minister had also received condemnation from various quarters.
Questioning the IUML’s ‘intolerance’, Pinarayi asked why the League leaders were dragging the name of his deceased father into the Waqf board issue. “What is the crime committed by that poor man? Is it a crime to be a toddy tapper? Do they think I would be hurt because they called me the son of a tapper? I am proud to be his son,” he said without mentioning Kallayi by name. He added that the IUML will not be able to gain anything with its threats.
Pinarayi further stated that the state’s Muslim community has understood the stand taken by the government on Waqf board recruitment. “The government is not afraid of the League’s stand on the matter. Their intimidation tactics are not going to work,” he said.