Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) ran riot in the district in the wake of the arrest of party district secretary P. Jayarajan in the Abdul Shukkoor murder case.
Speaking to reporters in Kannur on Friday after visiting the District Congress Committee office, which had been ransacked by the protesting CPI(M) workers on August 1, he said that the violence unleashed by the CPI(M) in the district could not be accepted. Urging the CPI(M) to do introspection on its use of violence as part of political activity, he said that taking legal measures against violence was the responsibility of the government. He assured that the there would be no compromise in enforcement of law against people indulged in violence.
Referring to the CPI(M)’s allegation that the police resorted to excesses in the district, the Chief Minister said that the police had not carried out any illegal measures. It was the duty of the police to maintain law and order. He asked why the CPI(M) was protesting when action was taken against the culprits behind the incidents, if anti-social elements had been behind those incidents. The CPI(M) had not even spared media persons, he said referring to the attacks on reporters and cameramen during the protests. To another question, Mr. Chandy said that the police force was duty bound to protect life and property that included party offices.
Asked about the government’s decision of the government to introduce contributory pension scheme to cover new recruits in the government service, the Chief Minister said that the decision was taken in anticipation of perils in future. A responsible government should also think about future, he added. To another question on the death of a Malayali jawan in Jammu and Kashmir, he said that the Central government was probing into it. The Defence Ministry would take necessary action in the matter, he added. When asked about the differences in the United Democratic Front over the issue of the takeover of the lease-expired land in the Nelliampathy hill, Mr. Chandy said that the UDF would sort out the differences.
The Chief Minister reached here to visit the flood-affected areas in the district. He also visited the Bafakki Thangal Soudham here, the district office of the Indian Union Muslim League. He was accompanied by Congress leaders A.P. Abduallakutty, MLA, K.P. Nooruddin, A.D. Musthafa, Satheeshan Pacheni and IUML leaders K.M. Soopy, V.K. Abdul Khader Moulavi and Abdurahiman Kallayi. He also attended the passing out parade at the Regional Training Camp of the Central Reserve Police Force at Peringome near Payyannur before visiting Iritty and Pazhassi dam areas hit by flood and landslips recently.
