The Hindu : Opposition walks out over Marad issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 01, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Opposition walks out over Marad issue

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JUNE 30. Opposition LDF members staged a walkout in the Assembly today accusing the Government of having surrendered its Constitutional obligation to offer protection to the life and property of people who had to flee Marad following the May 2 killings.

The Opposition members, who walked out after failing to force adjournment of the House to discuss the situation in Marad, lashed out at the Government for what they termed its failure to rein in the RSS elements in the area and said what was going on at Marad was a violation of the fundamental rights of the 400-odd families who had to flee from there. The Government, they said, had surrendered its authority to the RSS and what one witnessed at Marad was the picture of a weak administration, which could do little even as the RSS workers acted as they pleased.

The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, took the Government to task for the delay in getting the services of a sitting judge of the High Court to probe the killings.

He pointed out that a similar delay in initiating prompt action when violence broke out 15 months ago had resulted in the recurrence of killings in Marad.

Opposing the adjournment motion, the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, said the chargesheet relating to the May 2 killings would be filed by mid-July. He appealed for restraint from all sides and said provocative statements and action would not help heal the wounds of Marad. He said the Government had written once to the Chief Justice of the High Court seeking the services of a sitting judge, but in vain.

The Government had not given up hope and would take up the issue once again, he said.

Mr. Antony said the Government was trying patiently to sort out the issue. He appealed to the Opposition not to question its impartiality vis-a-vis the contending parties at Marad.

The Government would see to it that those who had carried out the brutal killings at Marad were given model punishment and the Crime Branch had taken up this task in all seriousness, he added.

However, he could hardly satisfy the Opposition with his statement. Mr. Achuthanandan said the impression one gained from the goings-on at Marad was that the Government was being partial to the RSS elements in the area, which had successfully thwarted the feeble attempt at rehabilitating two families who had fled the locality.

The Government was playing hide and seek on the question of rehabilitation. Schools had reopened, but the children of families that had fled the locality were unable to return because of the uncertainty over their families' future, he said.

The CPI leader, K.P. Rajendran, wanted to know what one should gather from the refusal of the RSS and BJP leadership to participate in the conciliation meetings convened by the three-member Cabinet sub-committee for rehabilitation of the displaced families at Marad and their participation in the conferences convened by the Chief Minister.

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