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Political violence: CM Pinarayi Vijayan calls for united peace deal

Vilification campaign will hurt state interests, investments, feels all-party meet.

Thiruvananthapuram: The all-party meeting that the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan convened has expressed concern over the campaign against Kerala, which could affect its economic progress. Briefing journalists, Mr Vijayan said that the propaganda about the state a the hotbed of violence would adversely affect the investment climate. "Political violence and murders have to be curbed at all cost. A criminal has to be seen as a criminal even if he had political connections and dealt with sternly," he said.

"Leaders of all parties should come together in the event of violence. It would help isolate criminals. All parties have extended their support to restore peace in the state,” he said. He said there was no tense atmosphere prevailing in the state and action had been initiated on incidents of violence so far. "Various outfits have pledged their support in this regard and for the peace campaign," he said.

"The meeting demanded strong action to stop hate campaign on the social media. The government has also taken a serious note of this.” Parties at the meeting alleged that the police was dysfunctional, which the government dismissed. However, it was decided that the police should exercise extra caution, Mr Vijayan said. However, he declined to comment on the remarks made by Union minister Arun Jaitley during his visit to the state and discussions at the national level regarding the political murders. He said he would respond to such queries separately. Meanwhile, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala blamed both the Union and state governments for the escalation of political violence.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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