‘Governor can’t be a mute spectator’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala BJP on Saturday criticised governor P Sathasivam for not reining in the state government and turning a blind eye to violence in the state’s Kannur district.

“The governor can’t be a mute spectator like this,” the saffron party’s state president Kummanam Rajasekharan said after visiting the house of an RSS leader who was stabbed three days ago allegedly by a group of CPI(M) workers. “It is state-sponsored violence. Police and CPI(M) workers are targeting BJP-RSS activists in a brutal and systemic manner,” he said, adding that six BJP workers were hospitalised in the past week after attacks.

“Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had convened an allparty peace meeting a couple of months ago. But it is turning out to be a big farce. Party workers are attacked and killed systematically,” he further claimed, adding that the governor should intervene to end the mayhem.

“He (Sathasivam) can’t be a mute spectator like this. He should use the power vested in him and advise the state government to take action against perpetrators,” Rajasekharan said.

He added if the situation continued like this, the party would ask the Centre to intervene.

P Praveen, an RSS Ponnyam mandal karyavh, was attacked by a gang when he was returning home from work on Tuesday. He suffered serious stab wounds and is undergoing treatment at the Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode. Similarly, five workers were injured in another attack in Sivapuram in the district.