Actor-turned BJP Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi said on Thursday that the Centre would convene a meeting of church leaders to discuss their apprehensions like 'love jihad' and 'narcotic jihad'.
Suresh Gopi, who backed a bishop in Kerala who made the 'narcotic and love jihad' remarks against the Muslim community, said that the Centre was already planning a meeting with the community leaders who have been raising such concerns. A two-day meeting with church leaders was even planned in 2019, he said.
Even as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had presented facts and figures to disprove the 'love jihad' and 'narcotic jihad' allegations, the BJP leader was backing the bishop's contentions by recollecting the recent statement of former Kerala police chief that extremist forces were making Kerala a recruitment ground. Social evils should be nipped in the bud itself, he said.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council will be also holding a meeting next week to discuss the present row, among other issues, said sources.
Though the Chief Minister said on Wednesday that those who made the misleading remarks themselves should correct it, Bishop of Pala in Kottayam district Joseph Kallarangatt who made the 'narcotic jihad' was yet to react.
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