As the state of Kerala is still reeling from the shock of multiple explosions at a Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer meeting in Kochi’s Kalamassery on Sunday, October 29, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed BJP leader and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar for his ‘communal remarks’ about the explosions. While noting the commendable role played by the media in not spreading fear over the incident, Pinarayi Vijayan stated that there were, however, certain people who tried to use the opportunity to target a particular community.
Hours after the explosion took place, Chandrasekhar, who is the Union IT Minister, took a swipe at the Kerala CM and the ruling CPI(M) for the solidarity they have been showing towards Palestine in the ongoing Israel-Hamas issue. “Dirty, shameless, appeasement politics by a discredited CM (and HM) @pinarayivijayan besieged by corruption charges Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent Christians,” he noted on X (formerly Twitter).
Coming down heavily on this remark, Pinarayi Vijayan, without taking Rajeev’s name, read his post on X in a press meeting and said that such a remark by a Minister, even as the investigation of the case is still going on, is born out of an agenda to target a particular community. “The state government is of the stand that the culprit, whoever it is, should not and will not get away. But on what basis can a Minister target a particular community without any basis? This is part of their communal agenda,” said Pinarayi, who went on to add that strict action will be taken against those using the incident to spread communal hatred.
On Sunday morning, three successive blasts were reported at the Zamra International Convention Centre in Kochi’s Kalamassery when a Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer meeting was underway, marking the end of a three-day convention. The incident has led to the death of two persons and left over 40 injured. Later in the day, a Kochi native surrendered at the Kodakara police station in Thrissur, claiming responsibility for the explosions. The police stated that the man identified himself as Dominic Martin, and according to reports, he arrived at the police station around 1.30 pm claiming that he was previously part of Jehovah’s Witnesses and that he placed the explosive devices at the convention because he was disillusioned by the group’s partisan, anti-national ideologies.