PoliticsKeralam
Rajeev Chandrasekhar accuses Satheesan of 'selective' communal harmony over Fort Kochi cafe row
The Keralam BJP chief said the Kashi Art Cafe is free to serve beef, but that respect for faiths must work both ways, after the Chief Minister warned against communal provocation over a YouTuber's video.
Key points
- Rajeev Chandrasekhar said communal harmony and respect for faiths must work both ways.
- The row is over a YouTuber's video targeting Kashi Art Cafe in Fort Kochi, which serves beef and displays an artwork of Gandhi and Jinnah.
- He accused the UDF and CPI(M) of 70 years of divide-and-rule politics.
Keralam BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday accused Chief Minister V D Satheesan of practising a “selective” brand of communal harmony, widening a row over a cafe in Fort Kochi into a broader attack on the state’s two main political fronts.
The dispute began with a video by a controversial YouTuber that targeted the Kashi Art Cafe in Fort Kochi, which serves beef and displays a historic joint artwork of Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Mr Satheesan responded by warning against communal provocation.
Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr Chandrasekhar said the cafe was within its rights to serve beef. But he said the Chief Minister’s stand was shaped by politics rather than principle. “Communal harmony and respecting the sentiments of faiths and religions must work both ways,” he said. “This sentiment and respect cannot be decided by your political expediency and your political opportunism.”
He also took aim at remarks Mr Satheesan made in Delhi about the growth of the Indian Union Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami. The BJP leader said the Chief Minister was in effect telling voters to back the IUML or accept extremism, and he rejected both choices.
He accused the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M) alike of using communal harmony selectively. “Malayalis deserve better than the last 70 years of Congress and CPM’s divide-and-rule politics,” he said.
No reply from the Chief Minister had been reported by Sunday afternoon.