A Janmabhumi article accused Dhanya Rajendran, the ‘Cutting South’ organiser, of arguing unconstitutionally that state governments should have a role in Bharat’s foreign policy.

Keralite Rajendran is the editor of Begaluru-based The News Minute and chairperson of DigiPub, a group of paid news propagandist outlets with alleged links to Bharat’s enemy George Soros. Soros wants to overthrow the Narendra Modi-led BJP government by funding media organisations.

Rajendran’s entry comes in the context of the controversy over the appointment of K. Vasuki IAS by the Kerala government to handle foreign affairs. Following this separatist move by the communist regime, the Central Government warned the Kerala government not to interfere in the country’s external affairs.

According to the constitution, foreign affairs is a subject in the central list. The state governments have powers that include making laws and appointing officers only in matters covered by the state or joint list in the constitution. The Kerala Government appointing a Secretary for External Affairs violates our constitutional provisions.

On 25 July in New Delhi, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), criticised the Kerala Government’s appointing a senior bureaucrat as the ‘Foreign Cooperation Secretary’. Jaiswal stated that foreign affairs fall exclusively under the union government’s jurisdiction according to the Bharatiya Constitution and thus are not the responsibility of state governments.

Dhanya Rajendran is making an unconstitutional argument that states should be empowered in foreign affairs by sharing an article published as part of the ‘Cooperative Federalism’ campaign in The News Minute in 2021. A dangerous argument is being made that state governments should be empowered to restore the trade, commercial and cultural relations that princely states had with foreign countries before independence.

The assertion in the article is that Tamil Nadu should have direct foreign diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka, Kerala with Arabian countries, Punjab with Canada, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra states with USA, Ladakh and Sikkim with China, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with Nepal.

Kerala government’s move to appoint an External Cooperation Secretary sparked significant controversy, drawing sharp rebukes from the MEA and political leaders.

Jaiswal reminded Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan that foreign affairs are the “sole prerogative” of the Central Government. This warning triggered another article from The News Minute.

Following the rebuke, Kerala Chief Secretary V Venu issued a clarification. “The Kerala Government is not ignorant that foreign affairs come under the subjects of the Union Government. Several foreign agencies and institutions working in embassies in foreign countries are regularly in contact with the Kerala government and other state governments,” Venu said. 

The News Minute then quoted former Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Venu Rajamony. “The State government of Haryana has a similar official. Why has MEA never raised any objection regarding the activities of Gujarat and Haryana? Why suddenly an objection to Kerala?” asked Venu Rajamony. 

Such separatist opinions came from Rajamony, appointed as an officer on special duty in New Delhi with a Chief Secretary rank by Kerala’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government after his retirement. His appointment was perceived as a calculated move to secure logistical support for political travels to other nations. Usually, state-level political officials do not have access to such facilities.

Kerala gained nothing from Rajamony’s appointment. The chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, travelled to the US, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, UAE, Bahrain, Japan, and South Korea on multiple occasions with his family and cabinet colleagues.

The News Minute also dragged in former diplomat TP Sreenivasan into the controversy. “Today, there is a division in the MEA for states, and states have been asked to designate an officer to deal with international cooperation. IFS officers can also be designated,” replied Sreenivasan to a user on social media.

If this was true, then why did the MEA rebuke?

Is The News Minute propagating the Tukde Tukde gang’s concept of breaking Bharat into pieces?

The idea of ​​a South Indian country raised by the Cutting South Conclave in 2023 did not arise suddenly. Cutting South from the rest of Bharat is an old concept adopted by the terrorist outfit Popular Front of India. Then, they planned to set up an Al Kerala-based Islamic state.

Dhanya Rajendran should reveal the foreign powers that funded her cooperative federalism project.