CPI(M) says Antony’s belated ‘contrition’ for Sivagiri and Muthanga police action validates LDF’s stance
By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan has said that the former Chief Minister and Congress veteran A.K. Antony had “belatedly” realised that his government had committed a grave mistake by sending police into Sivagiri Madhom to settle an election dispute in 1995 and also by using lethal force, which claimed two lives, including that of a law enforcer, during the forcible eviction of Adivasis from Muthanga forests under his watch in 2003.
He said Mr. Antony, after a hiatus of 21 years, had finally validated the CPI(M)‘s stated position. The CPI(M) had vehemently opposed Mr. Antony’s “ill-considered use of force” against landless Adivasis and the Madhom established by social reformer Sree Narayana Guru.
Mr. Govindan noted that the Congress Legislative Party’s (CLP) failure to defend criticism from treasury benches about the dismal human rights and law and order track record of the Antony government had forced the octogenarian to defend himself by expressing remorse for his Sivagiri and Muthanga “misadventures”.
‘Frayed relations in UDF’
Mr. Govindan alleged that the Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan’s “blanket opposition” to Kerala’s development had caused relations to fray in the United Democratic Front (UDF). “The Indian Union Muslim League has pointedly disregarded Mr. Satheesan’s call to boycott the government’s development conclave in Malappuram and thrown the party’s lot in with the initiative for the district’s development,” he said.
Mr. Govindan said Mr. Satheesan appeared to be losing relevance in the UDF with each passing day. “The back-to-back adjournment debates in the Assembly on law and order, seller inflation, and recurrence of amoebic encephalitis have exposed the UDF’s lies and hollowness. The UDF initiated lengthy adjournment debates, inadvertently giving the LDF a platform to lay out the government’s case, including achievements, before the electorate,” he added.
On Governor’s demand
Mr. Govindan stated that Governor Rajendra Arlekar was pressuring State-funded universities as the Chancellor to finance his legal battles against the government in the higher education sector. He said Mr. Arlekar’s “outlandish demands” were the latest “bizarre phase” in Raj Bhavan’s war against Kerala’s storied higher education sector. He said the Governor’s “strange ultimatum” blatantly violated varsity laws, rules, and statutes.
