Malappuram remark in gold smuggling; wrongly interpreted, says CM’s office, sends letter to daily

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The chief minister's press secretary sent a letter to ‘The Hindu', which published an interview after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's Malappuram remark on gold smuggling, sparked a controversy. The letter said what the chief minister did not say was twisted and given in the interview. Soon after the interview was published, there were widespread protests and criticism.

No country or area was mentioned in an anti-national way in the interview. The letter sent to the editor of the newspaper said things were misinterpreted. The chief minister gave the interview during his visit to Delhi the other day. The interview published in the daily said the police seized 150 kg of gold and hawala money of Rs 123 crore from Malappuram in five years. This money is being used for anti-national activities.

However, the letter said that neither the chief minister nor his office, the government have the stand mentioned in the interview. The letter said the CPM has taken a stand against RSS and Hindutva forces.

CM’s words
‘The Left, especially the CPM, has strongly opposed the RSS and other Hindutva forces. Many of our comrades have lost their lives for speaking against them. No one can believe these lies. We must understand the reasons behind such allegations. A significant proportion of Kerala's population consists of minority communities.

For a long time, these communities were with the Congress-led UDF, but that has changed. The minorities now support the LDF. This is part of the UDF's deliberate attempt to create confusion knowing it will affect us in the elections. False allegations are being raised that we have a soft approach towards the RSS.

This propaganda is aimed at political gain. Other extremist elements are also at work promoting communal divisions. While the government of Kerala is working against Muslim extremist elements, these forces are trying to highlight that we are working against Muslims.