Kottayam: Sunni AP group (a Muslim religious group) has come out against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his remarks regarding the attack on a Christian priest at Poonjar Church in Kottayam district. The Sunni AP group severely criticized Pinarayi Vijayan through an editorial in ‘Siraj’ (the mouthpiece newspaper of the Sunni AP faction). They mentioned that the Chief Minister’s response to the incident, where a Christian priest was attacked at Poonjar, is baseless and lacks proper understanding, demanding that the statement be withdrawn by Pinarayi Vijayan.
The editorial of the newspaper stated that Pinarayi Vijayan’s statement has surprised the secular society. “Rather than recognizing it as the wrongdoing of a small group of students, highlighting their Muslim identity is akin to adopting the tactic of the Sangh Parivar,” the editorial said.
The editorial also mentioned that Pinarayi’s LDF in Kerala is responsible for combating the Sangh Parivar. It blamed the police, stating that they took a biased stance on the matter. The editorial deemed CM’s statements supporting the police stance unacceptable.
Pinarayi Vijayan, while attending a public meeting, referred to the attack on the priest at Poonjar church as hooliganism perpetrated by a group of Muslims. The editorial of the newspaper, published the next day, urged him to withdraw his statement.
The incident of attacking the Priest took place on February 23rd, when a group of youngsters from outside the parish entered the St. Mary’s Forane Church compound in Poonjar and behaved violently. Their actions included staging a bike race and causing disturbances during the prayer service. When the church priest, Fr. Attuchalil Joseph, asked them to leave the church premises, the youths became violent and hit the priest with their bikes. Following this, Fr. Attuchalil Joseph had to be rushed to a private hospital in Pala for treatment.
Following the attack, several BJP leaders, including BJP Kerala state President K Surendran, MT Ramesh, Shone George, and other leaders, called for swift action against this attack by religious extremists.
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