Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that the government will bring in legislation to curb arms training in religious places. Mr. Vijayan told the Assembly that certain organisations were carrying out arms training in places of worship. “Religious worship centres are considered to be places where devotees can come without any fear. Therefore, the government will take stern action against those misusing worship places for arms training,” he said.
He was replying to questions from C.K. Hareendran, A. N. Shamsheer, John Fernandez and V. Abdu Rahman on the steps being taken by the government to curb arms training in religious places. Referring to the alleged attack on a former RSS worker in Thiruvananthapuram by the cadres of that organisation who had also kept him hostage for several days, the chief minister said the incident proved that the Sangh Parivar had no faith in democracy.
Mr Vijayan said the RSS threats to him would not have any impact. “RSS threat is akin to a one-legged man threatening to kick,” he quipped. Mr. Vijayan also said the government would look into initiating legal action against BJP leader K. Surendran for his controversial statement at a rally in Mangalore.
