Line between religion, State getting thinner… major departure: Kerala CM Vijayan on Ram temple event

Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M)Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday took exception to the Pran Prathishta ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya being held as a State event. “We had a strong tradition of maintaining separation between religion and the State. But that line demarcating religion and the State seems to be getting thinner,” Vjayan said after the consecration ceremony in a video message on social media.

Reacting to the event, Vijayan, whose party was the first to reject the invitation to take part in the ceremony, said, “Now, it has come to a point in time when the inauguration of a religious place of worship is being celebrated as a State event. Most of us have been invited to participate in the rituals. As those who pledged to preserve and protect our Constitution, let us reaffirm our commitment to its secular character by declining to participate in the event and upholding our constitutional responsibilities,” he said.

“Religion is a private affair and the Indian Constitution has minced no words in stating that all persons are equally entitled to the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. As those who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of India, we ought to ensure that every person within our territories enjoys this right in equal measure. At the same time, we cannot be promoting one religion above all others, or demean one religion beneath every other. As our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had often opined, Indian secularism means separation of religion and state… This is a major departure from the times when our constitutional office-bearers have been cautious from taking part in religious events as it would cast aspersions on our credentials as a secular state,”