Nothing represents the base and vile degrees to which political discourse has plummeted in Kerala than the comments made by state forest minister K B Ganesh Kumar and government chief whip P C George. Addressing a public meeting at Pathanapuram, Kumar called Leader of Opposition V S Achuthanandan a ‘sex maniac’ while George ridiculed the scheduled caste status of former minister A K Balan. George also gave graphic details of the alleged attack on a woman employee of the Assembly by CPI(M) members exposing her to public ridicule. Kumar’s apology was so convoluted that it only made matters worse.
Kerala is a state that created a world record when it elected a Communist to power in 1957. It is the most literate state where women outnumber men and people enjoy certain standards of living comparable only to those in the West. It is the only state where the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-led LDF are given a chance to rule alternatively. That is precisely why the abusive language used by these leaders has caused widespread concern. The argument that they were carried away by the audience response is not at all acceptable. Both of them are senior political leaders who should know what is decent and what is not.
Though Achuthanandan is at the receiving end this time, he is also infamous for using foul language against his political opponents like the woman who contested against him in the last elections. One of his senior party colleagues is facing a contempt of court case for calling a Kerala High Court judge ‘stupid’ in public. Two others are facing charges of inciting the public to take the law into their own hands against a police officer, who rubbed the party cadres the wrong way. But all this does not justify the fulminations of Kumar and George, who are paid by the exchequer to maintain decorum both within and without the Assembly. Things may be worse in other states but that, again, is not a justification for Kerala politicians to behave in an uncouth and uncivilised manner.