Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of fuelling riots in various States in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections next year, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan said that the Union government had failed to take any step to control the riot situation in Manipur even after weeks.
At a meet-the-press event organised by the Kesari Memorial Journalists’ Trust here on Sunday, he also alleged, citing a media report, that Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran was present at self-styled antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal’s property when he sexually assaulted a minor there, as per the victim’s purported statement. Monson was convicted in the case on Saturday. Mr. Sudhakaran vehemently denied the allegations a few hours later, saying that he will end his political career if anyone can prove the allegations.
With Mr. Govindan coming under intense media coverage in the past week over his comments related to a conspiracy and defamation case against a television journalist for a news item with fake allegations against the State secretary of SFI, the student wing of CPI(M), a good part of the press meet was taken up by the issue. Accusing a cross section of the media in Kerala of pushing ahead with a fake narrative against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, he said that Kerala is now the hotbed of journalism aimed at spreading anti-communist ideas and aiding a right wing shift in society.
Earlier comments
He reiterated that his comments were twisted by a section of the media to create an impression that he had claimed that anti-government or anti-SFI campaign in the name of reporting would invite legal action.
“I had clearly said that anyone who is involved in the kind of conspiracy that was seen in creating a false news casting an SFI leader in a bad light would face legal action. Over two-three days, a section of the media in the State organised a campaign against him, which led him to file the complaint. However, a part of my speech was spliced and spread to portray me as someone who was threatening press freedom. CPI(M) is a party which stands for media freedom. People who have trampled on press freedom during the Emergency days have now taken an opportunistic stance, casting themselves as protectors of press freedom,” he said.
