Muslim organisations ask Catholic Bishop to withdraw his "narcotic jihad" remark

Various Muslim organisations on Wednesday urged Catholic Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt to withdraw his controversial ''love and narcotic jihad'' statement, saying no religious leaders should make such ''immature'' remarks.

Their meeting held here to discuss the issue also said that the Bishop of Pala, through the statement, was aiming at the Muslim community.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Indian Union Muslim League leader Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, who chaired the session, said no religious leader should make such immature statements or comments. Such remarks would not help maintain communal harmony and strengthen the secular credentials of the state, Thangal said and urged the Government to strongly and effectively intervene in the issue.

He said the leaders of Muslim community did not make any immature response to the Bishop's statement.

Thirteen Muslim religious organisations attended the meeting.

Veteran IUML leader and Lok Sabha MP E T Muhammed Basheer said he supports the demand of various political parties to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

In the wake of the Bishop's controversial ''love and narcotic jihad'' remarks a few days ago, leaders of various religions met at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday last and called for steps to strengthen the secular fabric of Kerala society.

The meeting, convened by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, was attended by Muslim Youth League leader Panakad Sayyid Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal, Swami Gururethnam Jnana Thapaswi of the Santhigiri Ashram and representatives of other religious organizations, barring the Syro-Malabar Church.

The Bishop, at a function held in a church in Kuravilangad in Kottayam district on September 9, had stated that Christian girls were falling prey to ''love and narcotic jihad'' in Kerala and wherever arms cannot be used, extremists were using such methods to destroy the youth of the state.

Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had slammed the remarks, he did not, however, concede to the demands of the BJP and the Congress to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.