Kerala Congress to hold Palestine solidarity rally on November 23

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Wednesday announced it would be organising a huge rally to declare solidarity with the people of war-ravaged Palestine.

KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said the rally, which would be held at the Kozhikode beach on November 23, would also serve as a platform to expose the alleged hypocrisy of the ruling CPI(M), which according to him was abusing the plight of the Palestinian people for reaping political and electoral gains in Kerala.

The rally would be inaugurated by AICC general secretary K V Venugopal and would become a historic event by mobilising huge crowd, Sudhakaran said.

The decision comes in the wake of harsh criticism from the CPI(M) in the state that the Congress stand was supportive towards Israel and against the Palestinian people.

The Left party has contended the KPCC move of seeking an explanation from Congress leader Aryadan Shoukath for holding a pro-Palestine rally indicated the grand old party's stand on the issue.

Even Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, at a press briefing on Wednesday, questioned how an explanation can be sought from Shoukath for holding that rally.

Sudhakaran, in a statement issued by the KPCC, alleged innocent Palestinians were being massacred by the Israeli forces and said the Congress cannot support any decision that takes away the right of the Palestinian people to live in their homeland.

He also said that successive Congress governments from that of Jawaharlal Nehru to that of Manmohan Singh have always supported the struggle of the Palestinian people and the party has always upheld that position.

He claimed it was the Narendra Modi government which has adopted a stand, policy and approach that was against the secular democratic values of India and termed it 'shameful'.