Caste and religion used to cause division in society: CM

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stressed on Saturday the need to be on guard against the danger posed by the politicization of caste and attempts to use caste and religion to cause division in society.

Opening a public lecture as part of the 168th Sree Narayana Guru Jayanti celebrations at Chempazhanthy Gurukulam, Mr Vijayan said caste, along with the politicization of caste, is being used to wrest power and wealth in modern times .

Narayana Guru’s teachings offer a panacea to the problems the world is facing due to racism and religious strife. People who seek to divide society using caste and religion will become irrelevant in the ebb and flow of history, Mr Vijayan said. The guru’s teachings and insights shine with an everlasting quality and will never be outdated, he said.

Mr Vijayan said his government’s emphasis on education and agricultural and industrial growth was in line with Narayana Guru’s own ideas. The government’s attempts to achieve excellence in the state’s higher education sector are paying off, he said. The A++ rating earned by Kerala University in NAAC accreditation and the presence of educational institutions in the state in the top 100 of NIRF rankings are proof of this, he said.

The government’s emphasis on industrial and agricultural growth also reflects the vision of Narayana Guru who believed that both were necessary for the development of society, he said.

Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan addressed the Sree Narayana Guru Jayanti celebrations at Sivagiri Math, Varkala on Saturday. The casteism that continues to exist in states ruled by progressive forces was conveniently ignored, he alleged. The practice of so-called progressive elements of using caste to garner votes must be exposed, Mr Muraleedharan said.