The framing of criminal conspiracy charge against Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary P. Jayarajan and party MLA T.V. Rajesh by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the politically sensitive murder case of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) worker Abdul Shukkoor has given a new impetus to the political activism in Kannur ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The supplementary chargesheet in the case (the 21-year-old was allegedly executed by local CPI(M) functionaries on February 20, 2012) has come when the political parties are fast switching to the election mode.
Victim card
The implication of the timing is not lost on the parties, including the CPI(M), as the trial process is to start in a couple of days. Though the criminal conspiracy charge against the two CPI(M) leaders is viewed as a fresh blow to the CPI(M), the party is apparently seeking to use the new development as grist to its political mill with a narrative of victimisation.
“The supplementary chargesheet is the latest example of the misuse of the CBI for witchhunting political rivals,” said the CPI(M) district secretariat in a statement.
It said the CBI framed criminal conspiracy charges against Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh by using the disclosures of two IUML workers as witnesses who, it said, had already denied having overheard the alleged hatching of the murder conspiracy at the hospital at Taliparamba where the two leaders had been admitted following an alleged attack on them by IUML workers at Ariyil earlier on the day of murder. The Communist Party of India (CPI) leadership here, which usually refrains from taking partisan stand on issues relating to political violence in the district, is quick to come to the defence of Mr. Jayarajan and Mr. Rajesh with the same narrative.
“There are several examples of the misuse of the CBI for witchhunting political movements opposed to the Narendra Modi government,” the CPI district executive said in a statement. Strong public protests should be raised against use of the CBI for political purposes, it added.
IUML greets CBI step
The IUML greeted the framing of the criminal conspiracy charge against the CPI(M) leaders as a major step in the legal battle launched by it and the family of the slain youth to put his ‘murderers’ behind bars. In a statement, party district president P. Kunhimuhammad and general secretary Abdul Kareem Cheleri said the chargesheet validated what the IUML said when Shukkoor had been murdered. The legal battles would continue till all those responsible for the murder were sent to jail, they added.
