Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched an attack on the BJP-led Centre, alleging that its laws and policies were pushing Muslims to the margins and weakening India’s secular fabric.

Speaking at the concluding session of the ‘Kerala Yatra’, an outreach programme organised by the Kerala Muslim Jamaat, Vijayan said legislations such as the Citizenship Act and the new Waqf Act treat Muslims as “second-class citizens” and isolate them from the mainstream.

The month-long yatra began in Kasaragod on January 1 and concluded in Thiruvananthapuram after traversing the length of the state.

Vijayan said secularism, democracy and constitutional values were under threat, pointing to what he described as increasing attacks on minority communities and their places of worship across the country.

In such a climate, he argued, communal polarisation could not be countered by mirroring it. “Majority communalism cannot be fought with minority communalism as both forces complement each other,” he said while addressing a large gathering at Putharikandam grounds.

“Instead, they have to be fought by strengthening secularism,” the chief minister added.

Speaking at the event, also attended by Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan and senior Congress leader V D Satheesan, Vijayan said that having a "soft stand" or adopting an "appeasement strategy" towards any form of communalism was "dangerous".

The Marxist veteran said that Kerala has seen several brutal communal conflicts and riots in the state in the past, but all that has ended due to the strong, uncompromising stand adopted by the LDF against any form of communalism.

He called for creating awareness among the people about the forces trying to divide them along the lines of religion, race, caste or language and praised the 'Kerala Yatra' led by Kanthapuram A P Abubacker Musliyar, saying that it was a step in the right direction.

"In this era when conscious efforts are being made to separate people in the name of religion or race, such moves are a great defence against it," the CM said.