People's Democracy

KERALA

Law & Order Collapses in a Peaceful State

K Rajendran

THE state of Kerala has for long been proud of its excellent record in law and order. During the tenure of the erstwhile Left and Democratic Front (LDF) government led by V S Achuthanandhan, the central government had had to perforce appreciate many times the outstanding performance of the state on this score. Former home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was honoured by many agencies and institutions, including the India Today group, for the excellent performance of his ministry in the field of law and order. However, the situation has suffered a drastic reversal within the span of only a few months since the Omman Chandy government of the United Democratic Front (UDF) began its innings. This government is on the one hand protecting some notorious criminals as it happened in the case incident of Valakam, and on the other hand the same government is dancing to the tune of notorious police officers like Radhakrishna Pillai who at Calicut (Kozhikode) recently opened fire upon striking students who were fighting against the illegal admission of an unqualified student to the Government Engineering College, West Hill, Calicut.

Why did the assistant commissioner of police trigger bullets? Perturbed ministers have been desperate to explain to the media that the ACP had opened fire in the sky and not upon the agitating students. But an arrogant ACP himself bulldozed their lame-duck defence and vaingloriously declared that he had opened fire not in the sky but indeed upon the striking students. Surprisingly, chief minister Omman Chandy has been non-committal about taking any action against him. The reason is obvious --- the same notorious police officer was deputed to enquire into the alleged suicide of two girls in suspicious circumstances, in what came to be known as the infamous ice cream parlour sex scandal case. Minister P K Kunchalikutty is unashamedly hobnobbing with this police officer to get all the incriminating evidence destroyed.

Another example of utter lawlessness under the UDF government is the Valakam case. Here the victim was a school teacher, Mr Krishnakumar, who was fighting against the UDF leader and former minister R Balakrishna Pillai, and underwent “hi-tech” imprisonment. Ms Geetha, wife of Mr Krishakumar, has been fighting a legal battle against the irregularities committed by Balakrishna Pillai. She got a favourable order from the Kerala High Court and was appointed headmistress of the Valakam school. In retaliation, the teacher was threatened many times. It was at this juncture, more than three weeks ago, that the teacher was barbarically attacked. An iron rod was brutally pushed up his anus. Even though more than three weeks time has elapsed, the police haven’t arrested to date even a single person. The police are, apparently, more eager to spread orchestrated stories of all sorts. It ranges from holding the teacher guilty of terror attacks, to the worst possible type of character assassination. Thus, in the present UDF dispensation, it is the police that have been allowed to write the screenplay of the Valakam accident. On the other hand, Mr Balakrishna Pillai, who was convicted in the Edamalayar scam, is enjoying a pleasure situation in the hi-tech KIMS Hospital of Trivandrum. He was shifted from the Poojapura Jail of Trivandrum to the KIMS Hospital on the pretext that he has been suffering from serious illnesses. It has been of late revealed that Mr Pillai had contacted the chief minister as well as the suspected masterminds in the Valakam incident through mobile phones during his hi-tech incarceration.

Factionalism has also deepened in the Congress party simultaneously with the misrule of the UDF government. But their infighting has, amusedly, revealed many truths with regard to the notorious criminal deeds of certain Congress leaders. The incident that happened in Kannur is the best example. Here the former DCC president P Ramakrishnan has launched a tirade against a Congress MP who is an accused in the E P Jayarajan murder attempt case. Ramakrishnan has alleged that K Sudhakaran was the real culprit in the Koothuparambhu firing. Former minister M V Raghavan, too, had gone to the place due to the compulsion coming from K Sudhakaran. The revelation necessitates a fresh enquiry into the Koothuparambhu firing. But the UDF government is unrelenting on this score. Sudhakaran’s hooliganism has been a serious threat to the law and order situation in Kerala; recently it so happened that his gunman killed an innocent passenger at the Perumbavoor bus stand in Ernakulam district. Earlier, another gunman of the same K Sudhakaran had killed Nalpadi Vasu, a CPI(M) worker. All these notorious acts have happened under the aegis of the UDF government, with its direct or indirect patronage.

It is an undisputable and well-recognised fact that the erstwhile V S Achuthanandhan government never relented before the communal forces. There was virtually no incident of communal violence in Kerala during the LDF government’s tenure. The LDF government had always been firm in taking actions against these forces whenever they tried to raise their head. In regard to the clash at Kasargod, the VS government set an example by immediately instituting a judicial enquiry headed by veteran jurist Nissar. But one of the first decisions of the new government was to dismantle the commission of enquiry itself. This was done under the malicious compulsion coming from the Muslim League, a UDF partner, as it is a well known fact that many of its leaders were involved in the riot. Last week, however, the same place again witnessed communal skirmishes. It was surprising that the Muslim League’s leaders --- emboldened by the dismantling of the Nissar commission of enquiry --- had had no compunction in boycotting a peace meeting convened by the district collector.

However, it does appear that a wave of anti-incumbency has begun sweeping across the state. This was reflected in the Panchayat bypoll where the LDF wrested many wards from the UDF.