CM Vijayan, Congress slam now withdrawn article in RSS mouthpiece on church land

IANS April 5, 2025 277 views

Kerala's political landscape has been rocked by a controversial RSS mouthpiece article targeting church land ownership. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan swiftly condemned the piece as a deliberate attempt to isolate minority communities. Congress leaders like K. Sudhakaran and K.C. Venugopal echoed similar concerns about growing communal tensions. The incident highlights the ongoing debate about religious institutions and land rights in Kerala's complex political ecosystem.

"Secular forces must unite in resistance" - Pinarayi Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram, April 5: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, state Congress President K. Sudhakaran and others on Saturday slammed the mindset of the RSS even as it withdrew an article that appeared in their mouthpiece about the land holdings of the Catholic Church and the Waqf Board.

Key Points

1

RSS mouthpiece withdraws inflammatory article on church land ownership

2

Vijayan calls out systematic minority targeting

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Congress leaders condemn communal narrative

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Waqf Amendment Bill sparks political tension

No sooner did the article appear than the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said that after Muslims, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to go after Christians.

The Parliament had, this week, passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after a heated debate. Incidentally, during the debate in both houses, the opposition MPs had stated that with this legislation, the government is targeting the Waqf properties and subsequently, they will shift the focus towards other minority communities, including Christians.

Vijayan, who is busy at the ongoing 24th Party Congress of his CPI-M in Tamil Nadu's Madurai, took to his X account to express his opinion. "The article in the RSS mouthpiece @eOrganiser about the Church's ownership of land, published soon after the Waqf Amendment Act was passed, lays bare the Sangh Parivar’s deep-rooted antagonism towards minorities. Though later withdrawn, it reveals a deliberate, step-by-step attempt to target and isolate minorities and their institutions. Secular forces must unite in resistance", he wrote.

Sudhakaran, in a statement, said it is strange that the RSS mouthpiece is coming out with baseless articles and is nothing but spitting communal venom.

"The article points out that after the government, it’s the Catholic church which holds the maximum land and fixed assets, and then only the Waqf assets come. This mouthpiece is one which puts out utterly baseless reports, and there was one which said that Congress MP Benny Behanan has resigned in protest over the Congress opposing the Waqf Bill. Fail to understand why such baseless reports are put out," asked Sudhakaran, who is also the Lok Sabha member from Kannur.

Congress General Secretary, Organisation, K.C. Venugopal said the ‘article’ in Organiser is very clear in showing that after Muslims, now it’s going to be the Christians.

"It has reached a stage where ‘vested interests’ have a game plan to see that the Hindus, Muslims, and Christians in Kerala take on one another. Just see what has happened to the Empuraan film, when nothing happened to those who were behind films like Kashmir Files and Kerala Story," said Venugopal, referring to the ED raids at the residence and office of "Empuraan" co-producer Gokulam Gopalan.

The Catholic Church, meanwhile, has preferred to remain silent on the article.

Reader Comments

P
Priya K.
This is concerning but not surprising. The pattern of targeting minorities one after another is becoming too obvious now. Glad leaders are calling it out! ✊
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Rahul M.
While I don't support targeting any community, I think there should be transparency about all religious institutions' land holdings. This applies to temples too.
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Sunita P.
The withdrawal shows they knew it was wrong. Why publish it in the first place? 🤔 Kerala has always been about communal harmony - don't ruin that!
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Arjun T.
Interesting how the Catholic Church chose silence. Maybe they understand this is just political posturing before elections? The timing is too convenient.
M
Meena R.
While I agree with CM Vijayan's stance, I wish he showed similar concern when minority rights were violated by other groups too. Selective outrage helps nobody.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Tags:
Pinarayi Vijayan RSS Kerala Politics Church Land Minorities Communalism
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