THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Criticisms against IAS officer Divya S Iyer’s Instagram post stems from deep-rooted male chauvinism, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
“As a government employee she spoke her mind. She is being criticised for speaking different from her husband’s politics. Her innocence should be taken in that sense,” he said.
Divya made an Instagram post after Ragesh quit the post of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s private secretary to take up the role of CPM’s Kannur district secretary. In her post, Divya said Ragesh was a hardworking person who treated officers with respect.
Divya, currently serving as managing director of the Vizhinjam Port, was severely criticised by the Youth Congress and some Congress leaders.
Her husband and former Congress MLA K S Sabarinadhan too found fault with the post. “She could have avoided the remarks,” he said.
Sabarinadhan said his wife was working hard for the government. “Though her post was with good intentions there is fault in it. It is the duty of an officer to stand with the government. There is nothing wrong in a government officer appreciating the government and its policies. But praising a person who got a political appointment is different,” he said. Meanwhile a slew of senior left leaders, including E P Jayarajan and K K Shailaja, came out defending Divya for her social media post.
The Youth Congress severely criticised Divya for the eulogy. Youth Congress Kannur district president Vijil Mohan took to the social media to remind Divya that she was not drawing salary from the AKG Centre.
Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan opined that Divya was one of the officers who showed servitude to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He also warned that such actions would do harm for her in future. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan did not respond to the media’s query on the issue.
In her post, Divya said that even Karna would become jealous of Ragesh’s protection, referring to his stint as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s private secretary. She said she learnt many lessons from Ragesh during the past three years. “He is a hardworking person. Thank you, for always considering us with utmost respect -- an art that is getting endangered in power corridors across the globe,” she posted.
Meanwhile Divya said, “I faced severe criticisms during the past one and a half years for revealing the qualities and goodness in some humans. Sometimes I wonder what a strange world is this.”