KOCHI: Two days ago, the police summoned senior journalist Vinu V John for questioning in a case filed by CPM leader Elamareem Kareem. The Rajya Sabha MP had accused the prime-time debate anchor of inciting violence against him and his family.
In March last year, Vinu had railed on live TV against acts of violence committed during the Bharat Bandh called by trade unions. Slamming Kareem for trivialising the attacks on the common man, the anchor remarked that Kareem, too, should face a similar assault to understand the trauma of victims.
Almost a year later, the case has returned to haunt Vinu. While questions are being raised on CPM’s hypocrisy on freedom of expression, party backers allege the journalist crossed the limit. TNIE political observers and activists to gauge where civil society stands on the issue
‘Words taken out of context’
The CPM’s general theory is that the media and other global forces are challenging its existence, and this makes it very sensitive to any criticism. The case was filed taking the journalist’s statement out of context, ignoring the sarcasm. Kareem, a trade union leader, shouldn’t have done so. He should rather have criticised the party workers who had attacked the autorickshaw driver [during the Bharat Bandh strike]. That is what one expects from a leader.” - Sunny M Kapicadu, writer and activist
‘Any attack on freedom of speech should be condemned’
“Not just Vinu, but freedom is being restricted everywhere in our country. Be it the Union government of Kerala government, or other states, every day we come across attacks on freedom of expression in various forms. I wouldn’t say the situation in Kerala is worse or better. Any attack on freedom of speech should be condemned, whether it is a major or minor infringement.” - Aleena, poet
‘He didn’t incite violence’
I remember the show that led to this case. The statements never incited violence against Kareem. It was clearly taken out of context by the politician. He gave it new interpretations to file the case. Of course, the police have to file the case. But, the issue is that they never informed the journalist. The case doesn’t have much strength; it is just an intimidation tactic.” - C Ravichandran, author and atheist activist
‘Curbing critical voices’
This is nothing new in Indian politics. All political parties are intolerant of criticism. That is why I can only laugh at the current controversy. However, CPM is a party that gives speeches about artistic freedom, freedom of speech, etc. — the moment it comes under fire, we can see the hypocrisy. The case will be thrown out the moment it reaches a magistrate. However, the issue here is about curbing critical voices against the government.” - Adv A Jayasankar, political observer
‘Vinu crossed every line’
“What Vinu did clearly was an offence. He described in detail how Kareem should be attacked in front of his family, and even went on to say, ‘Let his nose bleed’. Such remarks could incite violence. It is unfortunate that people are comparing it with the action against the BBC. Vinu had crossed all lines of healthy debate, responsible journalism.”- Jaick C Thomas, DYFI central secretariat member
‘Clearly vendetta’
The CPM had criticised IT raids at BBC offices. Now, one leader of the same party in Kerala has filed a case against a journalist. One has to look at the context of what was said [by Vinu] during the news show… it does not merit a case like this. This is a clear incident of curbing freedom of expression. It is a calculated move against the journalist, after boycotting his show, releasing protest posters against him, etc. It is clearly vendetta, as the police did not inform him about an FIR being filed against him. - Sreejith Panickar, political observer