BJP's efforts to cash in on 'narcotic jihad' row in Kerala suffers setback

BJP's attempt to make inroads into the Christian vote banks of Kerala by backing the 'narcotic jihad' and 'love jihad' remarks of a bishop seems to be facing a setback as prominent church leaders are also condemning the bishop's remarks.

BJP leaders from Kerala, including Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan and even Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, who was a former BJP state president in Kerala, were among those who backed the remarks of Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, bishop of Pala in Kottayam district under the Syro Malabar Church, that jihadis were trying to destroy non-Muslims through 'love jihad' and 'narcotic jihad'.

Even as the controversial remark invited widespread criticism and triggered communally sensitive debates and demonstrations in the state, the BJP leaders backed the bishop and accused the CPM and the Congress of supporting jihadis by flaying the bishop's remarks. A BJP delegation even called on the bishop and extended support and BJP also sought a law to curb 'love jihad' and 'narcotic jihad'.

Many church leaders also backed the bishop citing that he was referring to a social evil.

Also read: Keralite church diocese sparks row with handbook mentioning 'Love Jihad'; expresses regret following protest

But as the row snowballed into a communal debate, those from the Christian community also started condemning the bishop. Senior priest of Syro Malabar Church Paul Thelakkat said that the Pala bishop's statement was contrary to the stand of the Catholic church as well as Pope Francis towards those believing in other religions. It was unfortunate that the bishop used terms like love jihad and narcotic jihad, he said in an article published in a vernacular daily.

On Wednesday Church of South India bishop Malayail Sabu Koshy Cheriyan and Kerala Muslim Youth Federation state president Shamsuddeen Mannani Ilavupalam jointly called for communal harmony. They said that words that hurt any community should not be used.

These developments seem to have sent a message to the BJP that trying to take political advantage of the issue might boomerang. On Thursday actor-turned BJP Rajya Sabha MP called on the bishop and later told the media that the bishop's statement was not against any community, but was trying to highlight social evils.

During the recent Assembly election campaign in Kerala, BJP national leaders had raised the 'love jihad' issue. But it did not yield any result.

Meanwhile, Congress is trying to take political advantage of the issue by accusing the CPM-led Left Front government of not trying to settle the communally sensitive issue from scaling up. On Thursday, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K Sudhakaran called on the Pala bishop as well as other church heads.

Being an issue with the Christian and Muslim communities on either side, the Congress and CPM were handling it cautiously as both the communities are crucial vote banks in the state.

Even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan initially flayed the 'narcotic jihad' remark of the bishop, on Wednesday he said that there was no reason for registering a case against the bishop as he clarified that he had no intention to create communal enmity.

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