THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday contested Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju’s statement that Kerala government had demanded a ban on PFI. The union minister had stated that the Kerala government raised the demand for ban at the DGPs meeting held in Madhya Pradesh in January. However, no such demand was raised by the state either in Madhya Pradesh or any other meeting, the chief minister said.
The union minister had told a daily that the Kerala government's request was being examined by the Central Government. The chief minister said the government’s policy was not for banning fundamentalist and extremist organizations. “In case if any organization has to be banned for creating religious divide among communities and for triggering riots, then such a ban has to be enforced first on the RSS,” he said and added that one cannot counter these organisations through bans. This is amply evident from the past experience and the government has the same position on the question of PFI as well.
The chief minister said the threat posed by extremist organizations and their ideology cannot be countered through ban. Such extremist elements need to be countered and isolated using strong legal measures and through mass mobilization of people against their ideas. Pinarayi said the state government had initiated strong measures against communal forces and extremist outfits and the results are visible on the ground. During the period 2005-2012, as many as 104 cases involving NDF and PFI activists were registered in the state. However in the period 2013-17 the number of cases had come down to just 14 which clearly indicates that Kerala is in the forefront in safeguarding communal harmony.
