The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders in Kannur could not have been in a greater dilemma over what a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into a murder case means or how it should be perceived. That party had always been fine with CBI sleuths snooping around as long as the investigation was loaded against their opponents, but would always see a deep-seated BJP-Congress conspiracy if the probe went against its leaders and cadre.
What has now landed the CPI(M) leaders here in a quandary is the prospect of the country’s premier investigation agency probing the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker Elamthottathil Manoj, with its focus on the conspiracy behind the murder allegedly involving party leaders. The CBI has already questioned party district secretary P. Jayarajan in connection with the probe and named party area committee secretary T.I. Madhusoodhanan as an accused. Stung by the CBI action, it has come up with its familiar description of the CBI as a repressive tool of the BJP-led Union government out to politically destroy the CPI(M) by implicating party leaders in a ‘fabricated’ case.
Nobody was surprised when the CPI(M) got into agitation mode against the ‘machinations’ of the CBI. However, many were a little amused on seeing the party choose Payyannur as the venue for its public outburst against the investigating agency and its handlers in Delhi. For, Payyannur is also the place where the party has been campaigning as a constituent of a local action council for a CBI probe into the killing of a youth, Abdul Hakeem, in February 2014. The question doing the rounds in political circles these days is simple: Is the CPI(M) for the CBI or against it?
After raising the hopes of even the worst cynics in the State capital of an end to the yearly flooding in the central parts of the city, the much-touted ‘Operation Anantha’ appears as dead as a turkey in the deep freezer.
The earthmovers that razed built-up backyards of the poor and small businesses during initial days of the operation are now lying still or are missing and the bigwigs who had put everybody in awe with their frequent appearance in all the theatres of action running along the python-like Thekkinamkara Canal are conspicuous by their absence. From available indications, it is now left to the sub-collector to take on the high and mighty if the initiative is to reach its logical conclusions.
The State and district administrations had jointly launched the operation based on the unquestionable powers that the Disaster Management Act bestowed on them. However, the Act appears to have fallen on its face when confronted with the might of a well-connected hotelier and other influential groups who must now allow the earthmovers into their front yards and backyards to put some meaning into the operation. The rains have come and almost gone and it looks like the administration would now take its sweet time to bury the remnants of the operation that failed.
Why ADGP Rishraj Singh failed to suitably acknowledge Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala’s arrival at a passing-out parade of women constables at the Kerala Police Academy, Thrissur, last week, appears set to remain one of those persisting mysteries. Mr. Singh himself has not been too forthcoming about why he, despite being in uniform, failed to salute Mr. Chennithala, except saying that he meant no offence.
Newspapers had published the awkward moment on their front pages the next day, triggering speculations that the government’s decision to shift Mr. Singh from his post as Vigilance head, KSEB, had provoked him. Mr. Chennithala himself appeared more charitable and said he saw nothing offensive in Mr. Singh’s failure to salute him. Mr. Singh, in civil dress, appeared to make amends, but barely so, when he greeted Mr. Chennithala with folded hands at another function in the State capital.
Video clippings showed a beaming Mr. Chennithala accepting the greetings from Mr. Singh, once again underscoring the fact that he never wanted the controversy to persist. The restraint that Mr. Chennithala displayed throughout the controversy, helping its quick burial, appears to add a political angle as well to the mystery.
With inputs from Mohamed Nazeer (Kannur), C. Gouridasan Nair and G. Anand
(Thiruvananthapuram)
