THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday slammed the Sangh Parivar’s highhandedness against Tushar Gandhi, the grandson of The Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, terming it an outright attack on the secularism and democracy of the country.The chief minister said Tushar was in Kerala to inaugurate the 100th anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi- Sree Narayana Guru meeting at Sivagiri in Varkala and to unveil a statue of Gandhian Gopinathan Nair.Tushar’s visit coincided with the commemoration of the historic event related to the meeting between Mahatma Gandhi and Sree Narayana Guru. It is at this juncture that RSS chose to attack Gandhi’s grandson. The mindset of those behind this hate attack is no different from that of those who assassinated Gandhi, he said. “This incident is highly condemnable. An act of curtailing freedom of expression cannot be allowed in a democratic society. Strong legal action will be taken against such tendencies. There is a need to build public opinion against these forces to isolate them in society,” he said.The Chief Minister said during his speech Tushar Gandhi expressed concern that the soul of the country was suffering from the cancer of communalism. “Our culture also respects divergent opinions and the Sangh Parivar is defaming those values,” he said. Tushar Gandhi did not succumb to the provocation and countered the protestors with chants of ‘Gandhiji ki Jai’ . Incidents like blocking the path of national and international personalities visiting Kerala will not be allowed, the chief minister said.Vijayan said a strong protest should come up from secular democratic forces against this incident. “At this time, no individual, section of society, or political establishments that want democracy to exist should remain silent. “Our freedom of expression can be protected only by developing the consciousness in the society and building strong public resistance against such attacks,” he said.
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