Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 13 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday strongly condemned the alleged "Sangh Parivar attack" on Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, which took place in the state a day earlier.

He also warned against attempts to block the visits of national and international figures to Kerala.

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A day after a group of men, reportedly RSS-BJP workers, raised slogans against Gandhi in Neyyattinkara, urging him to withdraw a statement he had made against the RSS, Vijayan said that the mindset of those behind this act was no different from that of those who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

"This is highly condemnable. Actions that suppress freedom of expression cannot be allowed in a democratic society. Legal and democratic measures will be taken against such tendencies," the Chief Minister said in a statement.

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Vijayan also emphasised the need to strengthen public opinion across society to isolate and reject such actions.

The Chief Minister noted that in Neyyattinkara, Tushar Gandhi had expressed his concern "that the soul of the nation was being afflicted by the cancer of communalism."

"Our culture respects even opposing viewpoints. The Sangh Parivar is tarnishing that very culture. Without succumbing to provocation, Tushar Gandhi simply raised a call of 'Jai Gandhi' and left. Attempts to block the visits of national and international figures to Kerala will not be tolerated," he said.

Vijayan further stated that a strong protest from secular and democratic society must arise against this incident.

"This is not a moment for any individual, community, or political movement that values democracy to remain silent. Only through such awareness and the resulting strong public protest can we safeguard our freedom of expression and other democratic rights," he said.

Speaking at an event organised to unveil the statue of the late Gandhian P Gopinathan Nair, Gandhi remarked that both the UDF and LDF, despite their long history of political rivalry in the state, must recognize a more dangerous and insidious threat—the RSS and BJP.

"The BJP we would be able to defeat, but the RSS is poison. And we have to be very cautious about it because if it spreads through the circulation system of our country, then all is lost," he claimed.

The police stated that a small group of people, allegedly linked to the Sangh Parivar, raised slogans against Gandhi at the end of the function.

No case has been registered in connection with the matter, they said.

Visuals aired by TV channels showed a group of men raising slogans against Gandhi, urging him to withdraw his statement.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)