Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday rued the departure from the times when those holding constitutional positions were meant to stick to the line that demarcates the State from religion.

In a video message released soon after the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Vijayan recalled how Jawaharlal Nehru had sought to separate religion from the State.

“As our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has often opined, Indian secularism means the separation of religion and State. We even have a strong tradition of maintaining that separation,” he said in an apparent allusion to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a constitutional authority, presiding over the Ram temple consecration.

“However, of late, the line that demarcates religion and State seems to be getting thinner and thinner. This is a major departure from the times when our constitutional office-bearers have been cautioned from taking part in religious events, as it would cast aspersions on our credentials as a secular State,” he said in English.

The chief minister went on to point out how religious events are being held as State events by ignoring the very principle that separates the State from faith.

Preamble protest

Several Malayalam film personalities posted images of the Preamble to the Constitution on social media ahead of the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya, as their counterparts from other film industries, including southern superstars Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi, attended the event.