Kerala Chief Minister Condemns Bishop's "Love And Narcotic Jihad" Claim

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condemned Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt's statement that youngsters were falling prey to "love and narcotics jihad", and said that those in responsible positions should be cautious and not create religious divisions in society.

While addressing the press conference, Mr Vijayan said, "Pala Bishop is an influential and a religious scholar. We are hearing the term "narcotic jihad" for first time. The problem of narcotics doesn't affect a particular religion alone. It affects society as a whole. We are worried about it."

"We are strengthening legal action to prevent it. Narcotics don't have the colour of religion, its colour is anti-social. Not clear what he meant, not understanding in what circumstances he said it. Those in responsible positions should be cautious not to make a religious division in society," added Mr Vijayan.

AA Rahim, Secretary, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), Kerala State Committee also condemned the statement and said, "The Bishop made an unfortunate statement. Those who are holding responsible positions should not issue such irresponsible statements without the backing of facts and clear information. It is not suited for a civilized society like Kerala. It will destroy our community's tolerance and goodness. No more such statements should come. DYFI strongly disagrees with that statement."

Earlier today, the President of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) PT Thomas said that the Bishop's statement will adversely affect the social fabric of the state.

Earlier, on September 9, while addressing devotees at a church in Pala, Bishop Kallarangatt alleged that young girls were largely falling prey to "love and narcotic jihad" in Kerala and said that these tactics are being used to destroy non-Muslims.

"They have realised that in a democratic country like India, taking up weapons and destroying others is not easy and they have adopted various tactics to target non-Muslims. In the eyes of jihadis, non-Muslims should be destroyed. Two weapons are being employed and that includes love jihad and narcotics jihad," the Bishop had said.

Bishop Kallarangatt also claimed that the increase in the sale of drugs is ample proof of "narcotics jihad" where the life of a non-Muslim youth is being destroyed under the influence of drugs.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)