Rain of controversies: Opposition's attack on government; government and front on defensive

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Controversies against the police, prosecution and the government regarding the acquittal of three RSS accused in the Kasaragod Riyas Moulavi murder case, the Enforcement Directorate's revelation that the CPM had five accounts in the Karuvannur Service Co-operative Bank where the multi-crore fraud was committed, the killings by wild elephants and bisons, failure to protect coastal residents who are in danger of sea attacks, challenges to disbursement of social welfare pension arrears, setback from Supreme Court in loan case. With three weeks to go before the parliamentary elections in the state, the opposition has been handed a new set of sharp weapons to put the government and the front on the defensive.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who started his election tour in Malabar from Kozhikode using the Citizenship Amendment Act as his main campaign tool, called a press conference in the morning, taking into account the seriousness of the allegations related to the Kasaragod Riyas Moulavi murder case verdict. He also foresaw the UDF's moves to put the government on the defensive by raising some remarks in the court verdict acquitting the three RSS accused in the case and stoking religious sentiments in the elections.

The Chief Minister tried to assert that the police, the prosecution and the government were very careful in the investigation and that there was no failure on their part. Within 96 hours, the police arrested the three accused who entered the madrasa and killed Riyas Moulavi. A charge sheet was submitted against the accused within 85 days. The lawyer suggested by Maulvi's wife was made a special prosecutor. The defendants were in detention for seven years and seven days without being released. Still, the court did not accept the prosecution's argument, the Chief Minister said. He also assured that the accused would be given adequate punishment.

CPM-BJP collusion: UDF

It remains to be seen how much the Chief Minister's argument and assurance will be sufficient to extinguish the fire of controversy. Especially, when the Congress and Muslim League are stepping up the allegations of CPM-BJP collusion behind the verdict. The police and the prosecution could not even prove that the murderers were related to the RSS. The trial court ruled that the investigation was substandard and one-sided. All the witnesses in the case were not examined. The government cannot proceed by merely upholding the Citizenship Amendment Act without facing questions from the opposition. The Chief Minister was not ready to listen to more questions regarding this in the press conference. When Opposition leader VD Satheesan alleged that there was a conspiracy similar to the Vandiperiyar case, Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty sneered that this is like saying "the person who fell from the coconut had only minor injuries but lost his head."