Narcotic jihad: Church, BJP endorse Pala bishop, Congress tones down criticism

By Express News Service

KOCHI/T’PURAM: With the ‘narcotic jihad’ allegation triggering heated debates within the state and past, the Catholic Church has thrown its weight behind the Pala bishop saying his remarks “should not be made controversial” as“it is a fact that Kerala is facing some serious social crisis”.

However, with extra Christian organisations popping out in help of Pala Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, Congress determined to tone down its criticism. BJP, which had known as for a probe into the allegation, rallied behind the bishop, with Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan alleging that the chief minister and Opposition chief have grow to be spokespersons of jihadis.

In a press release issued on Saturday, Kerala Catholic Bishops Council stated: “In the wake of international agencies cautioning about the presence of terrorist groups, including ISIS, in the state and seizure of crores worth narcotics, the remarks of the bishop raising concern and cautioning the youth should not be made controversial.”

“It is a fact that Kerala is facing some serious social crisis. Presence of terrorist organisations and steep rise in the narcotic drug use are the important ones. Though the mainstream media is not giving required importance to these issues, the various news and daily events reported clarify these facts,” stated KCBC deputy secretary and spokesperson Fr Jacob Palackappilly within the assertion.

“These serious challenges Kerala’s society is facing are not accusatory to any community. The apprehension that discussions on these have a communal tinge is also misplaced. Community leaders should, instead, take on the mantle of responsibility to solve the problem, maintaining communal harmony. The Catholic Church believes in social unity and peaceful coexistence. All of us should unite in one voice against these threats to our society, aiming for the larger goal of communal harmony,” stated KCBC.

Hindu group apprehensive, says BJP; Sangh Parivar’s agenda: Congress

Congress leaders V D Satheesan and P T Thomas had slammed the Pala bishop on Friday saying that he had crossed the boundaries, however the former softened his stand on Saturday after extra Christian organisations and a bit throughout the occasion backed the bishop. He as an alternative singled out Sangh Parivar for criticism.Satheesan alleged in Kochi that the narcotic jihad is Sangh Parivar’s agenda geared toward creating rifts between the Christian and Muslim communities. Urging to tone down the assaults on the Pala bishop, Satheesan stated the problem shouldn’t be allowed to escalate or else society will witness a rift.

Talking to reporters within the capital on Saturday, Muraleedharan stated  the bishop not humiliate the Muslim group as entire. “Had the Pala Bishop had humiliated the Muslim community as a whole by raising narcotic jihad, then it is not right. Instead, he spoke only about a small section of people, who have been endorsing jihadi activities. The Hindu community is also apprehensive of what the bishop had said. He said authoritatively that along with love jihad, narcotic jihad is also prevalent,” stated Muraleedharan.

He, nonetheless, stated that he’ll discover out whether or not the central authorities is conscious concerning the presence of ‘narcotic jihad’ within the state or not. He additionally demanded to know the stand of Kerala Congress (Mani) chief Jose Ok Mani on ‘narcotic jihad’. Just earlier than the meeting elections, Jose had demanded that love jihad needs to be addressed. But a day later, owing to strain from numerous quarters, he withdrew his controversial assertion.