Kozhikode : Three days after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan equated Jamaat-E-Islami to a terror outfit, Jamaat Ameer P. Mujeeb Rahman slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, claiming that the CPM veteran is attempting to divert attention from his ties with the RSS by targeting the Muslim community.
The stinging remarks came barely days after the book ‘Keralam: Muslim Rashtreeyam, Rashtreeya Islam’ by CPM state committee member P Jayarajan stirred a major controversy where the book makes serious charges against the Islamic group and its connections with radical outfits in Syria and the Muslim brotherhood. The book also makes direct reference to Abdul Nazar Madani and how his speeches influenced the youngsters towards radical thoughts.
“The Chief Minister labelled Jamaat-e-Islami as “revivalists” and said that we have links with international terrorist organizations. There are no Muslim organizations in Kerala that have not been labelled as terrorists by CPM,” he stated. He urged the Chief Minister to investigate these allegations thoroughly”, said the Jamaat Amir in Kozhikode.
“When did Jamaat-e-Islami become a terrorist organization? This (terrorism) label did not exist when he received support from us. CPM and the Chief Minister cannot deflect criticism by targeting Jamaat-e-Islami,” said Mujeeb Rahman.
Addressing media persons at Kozhikode, Rahman accused the Chief Minister of collaborating with the RSS to protect his family and using Jamaal-e-Islami as a scapegoat for his criticisms on Muslim community. The Jamaat Amir questioned the validity of P Jayarajan’s criticism on Madani and questioned the Chief minister and the government for accepting the support of PDP earlier and new stance of criticising Madani.
P Jayarajan’s book was released by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on October 26. During the event, the CM launched a strong attack against Jamaat-e-Islami, highlighting its connections with Muslim brotherhood and thus labelling it as an extremist group.
Meanwhile, none of the senior CPI(M) leaders have reacted on the matter as many are of the view that any comments could have impact on the By-polls being held in 3 constituencies on November 13.
