Kottayam:Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan as well as the Congress leaders were slammed for their stand on the issues raised by Pala bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt in a weekly column of Deepika daily, which is widely circulated among the Catholic community.
The column which appeared on the editorial page of the paper on Sunday, said that Vijayan might have made such a statement fearing Islamic terrorists. He has not even heard about ‘narcotic jihad’ despite having so many advisors, it said. Jose K Mani has also been asked to speak out his mind on the issue.
The chief minister had reacted to the statements of the bishop saying that narcotics don’t have the colour of a particular religion; instead it has the colour of anti-socialism. He had also said that those in responsible positions while dealing with such matters, should be careful in ensuring that a religious divide is not caused.
The column does not spare the Congress leaders also for criticizing the bishop on his statements on ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotic jihad’. The column named opposition leader V D Satheesan and MLA P T Thomas who had criticized the bishop. It also urged the constituent parties of the UDF to come up with their stand on the issue raised by the bishop. Youth Congress vice-president K S Sabarinathan has also been slammed for criticizing Youth Congress leaders who had come out in support of the bishop.
It is also said in the column that the bishop has aired his views only after studying in detail about it.
The paper had come up with an editorial in support of the bishop on Saturday.
