Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Minister for Fisheries, Culture and Youth Affairs, Saji Cherian Monday said he found great example of secularism, religious harmony and respect for other religions in Saudi Arabia during his recent visit.
"I was able to see real secular principles being followed there. They are role-models too,” Cherian wrote on Facebook.
Cherian also praised Keralites, about 6 lakh according to a rough estimates, who are working in the Kingdom.
"Malayalees who went to Saudi Arabia for jobs played a major role in the development of Kerala", he said.
Cherian took to Facebook after a controversy was raked following some of his comments he made at a function in Kochi Sunday.
Claims were made that Cherian, known for plain-speaking and tongue-in-cheek remarks, while addressing the event said he did not hear Adhan (Islamic Call to Mandatory Prayers) during his stay in Saudi Arabia.
"The popular Islamic tradition in Kerala, where Muslims are called for scheduled daily prayers (‘Salat’) by a formal announcement called ‘Adhan’, doesn’t exist in Saudi Arabia", he was reported to have said.
The Minister also said in his earlier speech that he was surprised about the law which restricts Azan in public. They have right to call of prayer but the law states that it is nuisance in public and must not be done.
"There (in Saudi Arabia) everything is heard only indoors, and not outdoors like in Kerala", he said.
In his Facebook post, the minister however clarified and said he was being quoted out of context, and that his remarks were made due to wrong information.
“I expressed what I was told by the person who took me around in Saudi Arabia", he said.
Adhan is called everywhere in the world whether Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Egypt, or India. However, Saudi Arabia had in a major move to check noise pollution, had in January this year issued directives to limit the use of external loudspeakers in mosques.
The decision was neither surprising nor new as a group of Muslim NGOs in Mumbai while expressing concerns over the rising misuse of loudspeakers from mosque minarets back in 2014, suggested that they were actually defeating the very purpose for which the muezzins make call for the mandatory prayers.
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