Responding to a controversial remark by Kerala Cultural Minister Saji Cheriyan, A P Smiji, a Dalit leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), said the party's secularism is "a lived reality experienced by generations."

Smiji, who was recently elected vice-president of the Malappuram District Panchayat, made the statement while reacting to the minister's criticism. She pointed out that the IUML had demonstrated its inclusive approach in the recent local body elections by fielding a Hindu Dalit woman for a general seat in Malappuram district.

Cherian on Sunday alleged that the names of candidates who won from Malappuram and Kasaragod districts during the recent local body polls reflected a trend of communal polarisation.

Rejecting the allegation, Smiji said Cheriyan's charge of communalism against the IUML was like a "seasonal business during festival seasons," and compared the minister's remarks to "dirty water flowing through a drain."

"Your words are nothing but dirty water flowing through the Othichal. You should cleanse the heart from which it flowed; otherwise, secular Kerala will soon write you a prescription for treatment," Smiji said in a Facebook post.

She said a closer look at the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate list for the Malappuram District Panchayat would expose what she called the hollowness of the charge of communalism."There is no medicine for those who pretend to be blind even after seeing the reality," she said.

Smiji also alleged that Cheriyan had failed to grasp the political reality even after his party's defeat in the local body elections, claiming that the minister's outlook remained "enslaved to party ideology."