Pinarayi Vijayan also said his party was facing “false propaganda and threats” across the country because the RSS had “realised” that CPI(M) hinders the RSS’s agenda of “leading the country into fascism”.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury (left), Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Credit: PTI
Kozhikode: After two men disrupted a press conference being addressed by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday, June 7, Kerala chief minister and CPI(M) politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the Delhi police was complicit in the “attack” against Yechury. He said they had ignored Kerala police’s warning that the CPI(M) chief may be attacked in Delhi during the politburo meeting.
“The Sangh parivar criminals got [an] opportunity to prepare the attack because the Delhi police, which is controlled by the central government, fell in line with the RSS agenda,” Vijayan said in a statement. He said that on June 5 the intelligence wing of the Kerala police informed the commissioner of Delhi police about the likelihood of an attack on the AKG Bhavan and prominent leaders of CPI(M) during the party’s politburo meeting. He said his police department also asked its Delhi counterpart to tighten the security for the communist leaders. “But the Delhi police ignored all these [requests],” Vijayan said.
He further added that he strongly condemned the “attack on comrade Sitaram Yechury”. “RSS threatens secular democracy in the country,” he said, adding that the attack against Yechury was “planned and executed by RSS”.
He said that a separate complaint had also been filed with concerned police officers in Delhi after “repeated attacks against Kerala House” recently.
Vijayan added that his party was at the forefront of struggles to counter “threats and violence” that challenge the country’s “secularism, civil rights and constitutional values”.
Kerala opposition leader condemns ‘attack’ on Yechury
In a related development, Kerala opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress said he “strongly condemned” the attack against Yechury. “[I] strongly condemn the attack against CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury at AKG Bhavan in Delhi. This repeatedly proves that the Sangh parivar forces … are not reluctant to do anything.”
Ramesh also said that one “can’t be a mute spectator” when such attacks take place. “Can’t be a mute spectator when the fascist powers, who are slaughtering the democracy, unleash attacks, also, on political leaders,” Ramesh said.
He called for “strong actions” to ensure that such attacks are not repeated. “It’s those who are ideologically weak that resort to physical attacks,” he added.
Yesterday’s attack targeting the CPI(M) chief also stirred anger in Kerala. Union minister Prakash Javadekar, who was in Kasargode to attend a function at Central University of Kerala, was shown ‘black flag’ by activists of Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of CPI(M).
Left activists held protest rallies at various places in the state and there were also incidents of attacks targeting BJP offices.
Result of the ongoing rhetoric targeting CPI(M)?
Hindutva leaders, including top leaders of BJP, recently stepped up rhetoric against CPI(M), often targeting the entire state of Kerala, which is ruled by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
In a statement that was widely criticised, Kummanam Rajashekharan, the BJP chief in Kerala, even recently suggested that the Centre should implement the controversial Armed Force Special Powers Act in Kannur, Kerala. Rajashekharan was responding to a murder of a BJP worker in the state. Surendran, the general secretary of Kerala unit of BJP, recently posted a photo of slaughtered cows while criticising widespread ‘beef fests’ held in the state to protest against Centre’s recent cattle slaughter ban. Later, however, the image Surendran posted was found to be misleading.
Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who was visiting the house of a Kerala BJP worker who was murdered last month as part of CPI(M)-RSS/BJP political rivalry that claimed several lives from both the sides in the region, said in a tweet that the murder was a “clear symbol of complete failure of state govt in ensuring peace and justice”.
Vijayan yesterday said his party was facing “false propaganda and threats” across the country because the RSS “realised” that CPI(M) hinders the RSS’s agenda of “leading the country into fascism”. “These [false propaganda and threats] will not make us tired,” he said.
Earlier this month, BJP president Amit Shah made an official three-day visit to the state, hoping to prepare the party to open its first account from the state in Lok Sabha in 2019. But many, including The Hindu, termed the visit less significant.