CPM politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan looks at the poster of Christ at the exhibition organised by the party

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 3: The Kerala CPM today hailed Jesus Christ as a “liberator” in the run-up to the party’s state conference next week, stirring doubts within the Church if the claim was politically motivated.

“The CPM has no qualms in accepting Jesus Christ, who was a great liberator. During his time, he expelled all oppressors from places of worship and liberated the people. This is the party stand and there is no point in anyone feeling sad about it,” state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan told a seminar.

Vijayan was replying to a statement by state Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala, who had targeted the CPM after a poster of Christ was displayed at its exhibition ahead of the February 7 conference. Chennithala equated it to “the CPM testing Christ like Satan tested him in the desert”.

The poster, which figured among those of political and historical figures, had created ripples in social and religious circles that saw it as an attempt to win over Christians, traditionally considered close to the Congress or its allies.

The stage for the debate was set a week earlier in Kasargode by CPM state committee member M.V. Jayarajan. He drew parallels between Christianity and Communism and sought to equate party general secretary Prakash Karat with Christ.

Vijayan’s comments today drew reactions from Church leaders, who wondered whether the CPM was playing politics using Christ. “Jesus, the Son of God, is not a tool for the CPM to attract people,” said a statement by the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement.

“It is a welcome gesture if the CPM is finally accepting the Lord and his vision of life. But I doubt if there is any sincerity in their action. Why didn’t the party do it all this time? If it’s in keeping with their philosophy that the ends will justify the means, then I’m sorry to say it’s a fraud on the people and time will expose them,” said Father Paul Thelakkat, the spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church.

The Kerala CPM and the Church have a long history of antipathy, with the latter having no qualms in acknowledging its role in bringing down the first democratically elected Communist government headed by E.M.S Namboodirippad in July 1959. The hostilities, which have continued since, sank to a low when Vijayan termed a cleric a “wretched creature” in a speech in 2007.