Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched a scathing attack on the Sangh Parivar, saying he was not a 'parachute CM' and that he reached that post after years of struggle. "People who threatened me against attending the rally in Mangaluru today should recall who I was. I have walked amid the lathis and daggers of the RSS, and they could not touch me then," Vijayan said addressing the Unity rally organised by the district unit of the CPI(M) in Mangaluru on Saturday.
While pro-Hindu groups had called for a bandh in the district on Saturday to oppose Pinarayi visit, alleging he and his political party were responsible for the politically motivated murders of Hindu activists in Kerala, the rally was conducted under tight police security.
“I have grown up seeing these Sangh Parivar activists carrying lethal weapons and indulging in wrongdoings. Even today I am not afraid of any threat posed by the RSS and the Sangh Parivar,” said Pinarayi, who arrived by train to address the rally held at Nehru Maidan.
Accusing the RSS of trying to divide the nation, he said, “RSS never fought for India's Independence. Instead they favoured the British viceroy saying their ideologies matched each other. RSS idolised fascist forces like Hitler and Mussolini and used it to frequently harass the dalits and minorities. RSS is known to cause communal disturbance. RSS never wanted India to be united and they keep on creating friction. Gandhiji's assasination was a conspiracy hatched by the RSS, and they used Godse to execute their plan. They distributed sweets when Gandhi died.”
Dubbing the RSS as “intolerant", Pinarayi said, “Brutal killing of rationalists like Kalburgi, Dabholkar and Pansare, and the Dadri incident point to this fact. RSS eliminates people who are opposed to its ideology. Today Sangh Parivar groups are killing each other, which is clear in Pratap Poojary murder case, killing of Praveen Poojary by cow vigilantes or murder of RTI activist Vinayak Baliga by NaMo Brigade founder Naresh Shenoy. (Writer) U.R. Ananthmurthy also endured a lot of intolerance and he was asked to relocate to Pakistan by right-wing outfits. Actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan faced similar situations. This country is not the property of the RSS and every citizen deserves to live in this country," the CM said.
Media are pro-capitalists
Vijayan alleged that a majority of Indian media were pro-capitalists.
“Nearly, 95% of the media in India are pro-capitalists or are run by capitalists. Unfortunately, there is a race among the media to protect capitalists. But there are more number of poor people in this country than the rich capitalists. So, the media should be in favour of the majority, the poor," urged Pinarayi, who launched the Media Centre of Vartha Bharati, a local daily in Mangaluru.
Alleging that a majority of the media claimed that they were secular, but had communal inclinations, Pinarayi said, “This is a dangerous development. Media's duty is to uphold secular principles of this country, but several media are polarising the country.”
