Thiruvananthapuram: Saying terrorists have no religion, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said an entire community should not be blamed for the alleged links of some with the IS.

Extremist activities cannot be attributed to any particular religion alone, the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader told the assembly.

“Vested interests are creating an anti-Muslim feeling, this will not be allowed as a huge majority in our society is against such activities,” Vijayan cautioned.

“It’s a very small segment which does this. To blame one particular community alone is not fair,” he said.

The Chief Minister spoke after three legislators raised media reports about several Keralites reportedly going missing to join the Islamic State. He said the government would not be able to tackle the problem on its own.

“There has to be an overall awareness against terrorism and extremism and we need to take everyone into confidence. The state government will do its job and will work in tandem with the Centre to probe these reports,” he said.

According to Vijayan, 21 people, including children, were missing and this included 17 from Kasaragod district, in the northern tip of Kerala, and four from Palakkad district.

The Kerala Police and central intelligence agencies are said to be probing the issue, taking down statements from families which have alleged that their family members have gone missing.