Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP on Wednesday stepped up its attack on the Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan Government over Local Self Government Minister K.M. Shaji’s controversial remarks on the PM-SHRI scheme, demanding that Chief Minister clarify whether the government considers the Centre’s education initiative an opportunity for students or a scheme that should be flushed down the drain.
BJP national executive member, P.K. Krishnadas, said the Chief Minister had maintained silence even two days after Shaji’s remarks and demanded that the government make its position clear.
“The policy position of the State Government has to be announced by the Chief Minister. How, then, can a Minister announce the government’s policy?” Krishnadas asked.
He alleged that the controversy had provided strong evidence to the charge that the Indian Union Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami wield decisive influence over the policy decisions of the UDF Government.
“If the UDF’s position is that the PM-SHRI scheme should be flushed down the drain, it will be a grave injustice to ordinary students in Kerala,” he said, arguing that students should not be denied opportunities available through Central Government schemes for political reasons.
Krishnadas also targeted the government over the controversy surrounding Vande Mataram, alleging that restrictions on its singing reflected what he termed the religious divisive agenda of the Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Claiming that Vande Mataram had been recognised by Parliament as the national song, he said completely prohibiting it amounted to challenging the authority of Parliament and the Constitution.
The BJP leader also trained his guns on the CPI(M) over the alleged attack by SFI activists on the woman Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady.
Describing the incident as an attack that had shocked Kerala’s cultural conscience, Krishnadas alleged that police, despite being present, failed to effectively intervene or protect the Vice-Chancellor.
He claimed that police action followed only after she approached the Governor, who subsequently contacted the DGP.
He questioned Chief Minister’s position on the incident, asking whether he stood with the minority woman Vice-Chancellor who came under alleged attack of SFI activists.
Krishnadas further alleged that instead of supporting the victim, the Chief Minister had criticised the Governor’s intervention with the police, while the CPI(M) State Secretary had adopted a similar position.
“Violence against women and campus hooliganism cannot be justified in the name of politics,” Krishnadas said, adding that the BJP would strongly oppose both SFI violence and what he described as political protection for such acts.
(IANS)
