PALAKKAD: Senior CPM leader A K Balan on Saturday said he will not apologise for his remarks linking Jamaat-e-Islami to the Marad communal violence, asserting that he is prepared to face imprisonment if that is the outcome of any legal proceedings.
Reacting to a legal notice issued by Jamaat-e-Islami seeking `1 crore in damages, Balan said he would send a reply within a week but ruled out an unconditional apology or payment of compensation. “If the final verdict is jail, I will go to jail willingly,” he said.
Balan said court cases and imprisonment were not new to him. Recalling his past, he said he had spent 30 days in Kannur Central Jail during his student days for participating in the land struggle and had also been remanded in connection with the NGO teachers’ agitation.
The senior CPM leader maintained that the allegations raised against him were baseless and politically motivated. He claimed the legal notice was part of a deliberate attempt to malign him and the CPM before the public and portray him as anti-minority. “My public life spans more than 60 years. These accusations are fabricated through instigation with the sole aim of defaming me and my party,” Balan said.
Jamaat-e-Islami, in its legal notice, has demanded that Balan withdraw his statement alleging involvement in communal violence and pay Rs 1 crore as compensation, terming his remarks defamatory.
Clarifying his controversial reference to the Marad violence, Balan said his remarks were made in the context of safeguarding communal harmony. He argued that communal peace would be ensured only under a LDF government and that his statement was meant to highlight the danger posed to social harmony if any political front comes to power with the support of communal forces.
“Whichever party comes to power with the backing of communal forces will harm communal harmony. That was the essence of my Marad reference,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister M B Rajesh came out in support of Balan, stating that communal riots in Kerala had occurred during UDF regimes.