Bishops are being denied freedom of speech: V Muraleedharan

NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said that Kerala is witnessing the sight of priests being surrounded and attacked for expressing their stands. Muraleedharan was talking to the media along with former Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam and national spokesperson Tom Vadakkan at the BJP headquarters.

"The situation in the state is that neither the Bishop of Thalassery nor the Bishop of Pala can comment. We will not accept the approach of the government and the opposition that denies Christian clergy freedom of speech when telling the truth," Muraleedharan said.

"Thalassery archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplani's statement that the BJP is not untouchable for the Church is welcome. The statement made by the bishop is to protect the interest of hill farmers. When Pala Bishop spoke about narcotic jihad, CPM and Congress criticized him. CPM and Congress are denying freedom of speech to priests, including bishops, in Kerala. They will lash out at anyone who speaks in favour of the central government. Both CPM and Congress are seeing minorities only as their vote banks," Muraleedharan added.