Kerala bishop says Muslims launched drug jihad, faces criticism

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and congressional leaders on Friday criticized a Catholic bishop for baselessly claiming that Muslims in the state had launched a narcotic jihad that attracted members of other religious groups to become drug addicts.

Drug jihad is the activity of spoiling the lives of non-Muslims, especially young people, by making them addicted to drugs, said Joseph Kallarangatt, bishop of the Diocese of Palai of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church on Wednesday. . Various types of drugs are used in ice cream parlors, hotels and juice bars run by die-hard jihadists. They use various types of drugs as a weapon to spoil non-Muslims.

Speaking at Marth Mariam Pilgrim Church in Kottayam District on Wednesday, Kallarangatt also referred to amorous jihad, a conspiracy theory that has so far been widely adopted by Hindutva activists. They allege that through the jihad of love, Hindu women are forcibly converted by Muslims through marriage.

In February 2019, the Center told Lok Sabha that no case of jihad in love had been reported by any of the central agencies.

Despite this, Kallarangatt claimed on Wednesday that young people in Kerala were facing an unprecedented crisis of amorous jihad and narcotic jihad.

The bishop claimed that many people have lost their jobs and dropped out of school after becoming addicted to drugs due to narcotic jihad. He also alleged that the jihadists use other weapons because they cannot destroy non-Muslim communities by using weapons in a democratic country like India.

When the agenda propagates religion and the eradication of non-Muslims, the means to achieve this agenda manifest in different ways, the bishop said.

The bishop also expressed his views against interfaith marriages without citing any evidence to back up his claims.

Asking what’s wrong with a man and woman from different communities loving each other is a simple question, he said, according to The Hindu. But how such marriages unfold and what happens to them afterwards is indeed a big question. Women are seen as geared towards compromising faith, then terrorism. Our objection is there.

Vijayan said on Friday that the drug addiction problem did not affect any particular religion, The Times of India reported.

Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan, also condemned the bishops’ comments. In a Facebook post, the congressional leader said community and spiritual leaders should not make statements that could interfere with peace and mutual trust among residents of the state.

It is a serious mistake to count the number of crimes on the basis of caste and religion and to blame a particular community for the same, he said.

Meanwhile, a Kottayam-based organization called the Mahallu Muslim Coordinating Committee has called for police action against the bishop under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, News18 reported.

The provision is intended to promote enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.

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