THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The statement of CPM leader and MLA Elamaram Kareem the other day,picturing the differentially abled lot in the society in bad light, while he was presenting the issues confronting the public sector KSRTC including sanctioning of large number of journey passes, at a meet, drew flak from KPCC president V M Sudheeran and the Differentially Abled People’s Congress Committee (DAPC). An emergency meeting of the organisation held here had expressed strong protest and resentment on the statement and observed that the vernacular slang used by Kareem to describe various kinds of disabilities of a person was ‘devoid of culture’.
“He had insulted the differentially abled and attempted to withdraw even paltry benefits sanctioned by the govt,which were secured after long struggles,” the meet noted.“An explanation should come on whether his statement was the policy of the party which he represented,” it was said.
The meet decided to organise state-wide protests against the derogatory statement and onslaughts against the disabled. V M Sudheeran observed that such a statement shouldn’t have come from Kareem who had been the state Industries Minister and attained the post of a member of the CPM central committee.“The statement has exposed the cruel mindset against those who have been deformed by birth for no fault of theirs. By merely tendering an apology,the issue will not die down.The CPM leadership should come forward to dismiss the statement of Kareem and ensure measures that it will not be repeated again,” Sudheeran said.
