left should mind its own business
The left in Kerala, mainly the CPI(M), has unleashed an abominable propaganda against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of his visit to the State to participate in a function at the Sivagiri Mutt, a centre of spirituality founded by great social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, at Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram district. The first leftist leader to declare his intolerance towards Mr Modi was the leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Mr VS Achuthanandan. Also a central committee member of the CPI(M), he declared on Saturday that he would boycott the function organised by Sivagiri Mutt to protest against the invitation extended to Mr Modi. Within 24 hours, State CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan accused the sanyasis of Sivagiri of planning to transform the Mutt from a secular spiritual centre into a Hindu establishment by inviting Mr Modi to inaugurate a programme. With this condemnable act, the CPI(M) has, once again, revealed its fascist face. The Marxists, who cannot tolerate their own leaders keeping religious beliefs, should understand that it is not up to them to decide who the sanyasis will invite to a programme being held at the spiritual centre, just as the sanyasis or anyone else cannot interfere in the affairs of the Marxist party. The Marxists should also understand that they have no right to declare Mr Modi — or for that matter any leader — as ‘untouchable’. At the same time, it is politically interesting to note that a pattern is emerging in Kerala when it comes to Modi-baiting. For example, this latest round of anti-Modi propaganda from the leftists comes on the heels of a similar hate campaign against the Gujarat Chief Minister that was run by the Congress. A section within that party has been attacking the State’s labour Minister Shibu Baby John for having earlier met Mr Modi in Ahmedabad to discuss development matters.
It’s indisputable that both the CPI(M) and the Congress have been propelled into the anti-Modi campaign by their innate urge to appease the Islamist elements in the State in the context of the imminent lok Sabha election, and also because the two parties are afraid of the Gujarat Chief Minister's emerging stature as a politician of national import. But the point these parties tend to forget is that the Muslim community has by and large refused to endorse their malicious efforts. Keralites have not forgotten how Mr Vijayan tried to ensure Islamist support for the left in the 2009 lok Sabha election by sharing the stage with the likes of Abdul Nasser Madani, who is presently lodged in a Bangalore jail for his alleged role in the 2008 bombings. The Marxist farce becomes all the more obvious when the same Mr Vijayan shamelessly accuses the sanyasis at Sivagiri of indulging in a conspiracy to transform the Mutt into a Hindu edifice. It is high time the Marxists looked in the mirror, as Sree Narayana Guru had advised, and gave up their intolerance towards political adversaries.