Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has compared Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with Pontius Pilate. In a statement on Wednesday, he said Mr. Vijayan had washed his hands of Alan Suhaib and Taha Fasal like the Roman Governor who tried and crucified Christ at the instance of the Jewish orthodoxy. Mr Chennithala said Mr. Vijayan, likewise, had allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the case to appease Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Bharathiya Janata Party’s mouthpiece in Kerala, Janmabhoomi, had subsequently published an edit page article praising Mr. Vijayan’s resoluteness.
Mr. Vijayan had branded the students urban Naxals to pander to the BJP’s political propaganda, he said.
The State police had arrested the students in November for suspected Maoist links. They subsequently booked them under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Both are members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kozhikode.
Mr. Chennithala said the arrest of the students under the UAPA and subsequent developments had turned public opinion against the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Sabitha Madathil, mother of Alan Suhaib and descendant of a storied communist family in Malabar, had lamented her son’s plight. She said she felt disowned by the CPI(M) and Mr. Vijayan.
The CPI(M) held a rally in Kozhikode to publicly condemn the youths as Maoists. The move backfired. The party has now sensed a raising groundswell of opposition within its ranks against Mr. Vijayan and the leadership.
In a move to assuage its rank and file, the CPI(M) State secretariat had issued a statement on Tuesday slamming the Centre for the NIA’s takeover of the case. The party was now weeping crocodile tears for the students to save its leaders from the wrath of its cadres.
Mr. Vijayan was adamant that the students deserved punishment under the draconian UAPA though members of his Cabinet and a galaxy of CPI(M) leaders had opposed him.
The Communist Party of India, a principal constituent of the LDF, had argued against victimising the students under the UAPA. However, Mr. Vijayan defended the police by reiterating in the Assembly that the students were “urban Naxals”, he said.
