AMBITIOUS PINARAYI Shankar Raj

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has been in the limelight in the agitations that followed the Citizenship Amendment Act. He was the prime mover behind the resolution passed by the Kerala State Assembly asking the Centre to withdraw the Act. With this, Kerala became the first state to move such a resolution. This move has been adapted by the Congress which has asked its party-ruled states to pass similar resolution. on Tuesday, the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution. Pinarayi was also behind the Kerala government’s move to petition the Supreme Court challenging the rights of the Centre to bring about CAA saying it violates Articlse 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. Again, Kerala became the first state to formally move SC against CAA saying the amended law was untenable.

Article 14 promises Right to Equality to all while Article 21 says “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law” and Article 25 says “all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience”. The LDF govt led by Pinarayi has also challenged the Passport Act and Foreigners Act Rules. Moving a step further Pinarayi had written to 11 non-BJP CMs asking them to take similar steps against the controversial law and pitching for unity to protect democracy and secularism. In all these moves, one can see the Pinarayi’s ambition to go beyond Kerala; he is pitching for a national role and also rise above the CPM. By becoming a prime figure in the resistance against CAA and Modi government, Pinarayi is probably nursing something bigger in Delhi. Most of the time, he has snubbed the politburo and walked his path alone, brushing aside the dictates of his party bosses. Pinarayi must realise he is using taxpayers’ money to go against a law passed by Parliament. One should remember it was the same person who doggedly tried to enforce SC verdict on Sabarimala despite warnings from party high command. If Pinarayi can hold the SC verdict sacrosanct, why not a law passed by Parliament?

But one cannot argue with 75-year-old comrade Pinarayi either within the sacred walls of the politburo or outside. He is known to be bold to the point of being foolish, decisive that is sometimes meaningless, adamant that speaks of a man who is only keen to hear his viewpoint from the small echo chambers around him and rude as if there is no political battle ahead.

His police reportedly murdered two Maoists — Ajitha and Kuppudevaraj — in Nilambur forests in November last. For days, there were loud protests in Kerala against the extra-judicial killings and state violence. The protests against the Nilambur fake encounter were confronted by the government with more brutal police atrocity. And Pinarayi, with blood on his hands, is now before the SC defending ‘rights’ under the Constitution. He slapped draconian laws like Unlawful Action Prevention Act (UAPA) on his own party supporters — Alan Suhaib and Taha Fazal — students of law and journalism. Over 25 are behind bars in Kerala under the UAPA — an act that was vehemently opposed by the CPM when it was out of power in Kerala.

The Left wing Democratic Students’ Union had this to say on their Facebook post: “A state which kills its political opponents in premeditated “encounter” killings and arrests those who dissent under draconian laws like UAPA is not a democratic state. DSU condemns the spate of violence unleashed by the CPI (M) government in Kerala. We must expose the double standards of this pseudo-left force which cries hoarse against state violence, draconian laws and even shed crocodile tears after the Bhopal fake encounter. But in Kerala where CPI (M) is in power, these shameless and degenerate forces resort to killing people in fake encounters and arresting and framing activists under draconian laws like UAPA.” It is ironic Pinarayi is before SC defending the freedoms under Article 14 when the very freedoms are curbed with an iron hand in Kerala. His police force is so brutal that Opposition has said if any suspect is taken to police station, his or her dead body returns.