Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday said Sree Narayana Guru, a social reformer, had always kept humanity above caste.
Speaking after inaugurating the Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi at nearby Chempazhanthi, his birth place, Vijayan said Guru made the declaration "Namuku Jathiyilla" (we do not have caste) as he knew that some people were trying to confine him to a particular caste and religion.
Gurus message makes clear that he had given importance to humanity than religion or caste, he said.
Vijayan said Guru never had any particular community in mind when he called for the social movement for change.
The Chief Minister said it was against the Gurus ideals to speak about caste by occupying positions in organisations started by Sree Narayana Guru.
The 19th century spiritual guru and social reformer was born into a backward Ezhava family in an era when people from such communities faced social injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala.