Kerala governor slams K.T. Jaleel’s remarks on Kashmir

Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday criticised the remarks made by ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) leader KT Jaleel on Kashmir and said it was “totally unacceptable”. KT Jaleel kicked off a huge row after he shared a Facebook post where he called Jammu and Kashmir as “Indian adheena Jammu and Kashmir” (India-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir) and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as “Azad Kashmir”.

“It is very unfortunate. Not only is it unacceptable, I wonder if these comments were made after going through some literature or after knowing something or just out of ignorance. I do not know. I feel very sorry for this kind of comment. It is totally unacceptable. I feel hurt by these kinds of comments,” the Kerala governor was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Questioning the Kerala MLA over his “national integrity”, Khan further said, “Do we not realise the preciousness of our freedom? Do we not realise the importance of our national integrity? How can we afford to say things like this?”

The CPI(M) distanced itself from Jaleel’s remark. Party MLA AC Moideen clarified hat his stand was not the Left party’s. Senior Marxist party leader and state minister MV Govindan further said that the Left party has a clear stand on India and Kashmir.

KT Jaleel reacted after his statement after a huge backlash and claimed that it was misinterpreted. However, he addressed only a part of his statement, staying silent on the other part. “I have only sympathy for those who don’t understand the meaning of “Azad Kashmir” when it is written in double inverted commas,” Jaleel wrote in Malayalam in a subsequent social media post. However, he did not say anything about the “India adheena Jammu and Kashmir” bit.

Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan hit out at the Kerala government over their leader’s derogatory remark and said that the government should not think withdrawing his comments was the end of the matter.