Drug abuse and alcoholism among youth prompt CPM’s rectification
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM state secretary M V Govindan had recently attended an SFI meeting where girl students raised serious charges against their male colleagues, alleging that they have been indulging in alcohol and ganja. Suddenly one of them got up and alleged that not just boys, but girl students too indulge in such activities, even naming one of them. The girl in question then stood up. She said it was so and so (guy) who used to make her drink. What followed was pandemonium. The cadres started pointing fingers at each other naming them for excessive drinking. In fact the party secretary got so irked, he left abruptly.
Sources said Govindan wanted the CPM district leadership to disband the SFI unit after a video emerged showing its president and secretary in an inebriated state. However the directive was not followed. There are a slew of allegations against youth leaders in CPM’s Thiruvananthapuram district unit, right from the letter row to drug abuse and alcoholism. The CPM state secretary is not at all happy with these developments. This is what could have prompted the CPM leadership to go in for a self-critical rectification move after a long gap.
Sources in the party’s inner circles say what was exposed was just the tip of the iceberg. Leaders say that along with youth leaders’ addiction to alcohol or other narcotic substances, the organisation is haunted by financial fraud, immoral activities and even superstitions that it once tried to eliminate. The role of a party sympathiser in the human sacrifice incident at Elanthoor had shocked the leadership.
An evaluation by the leadership found out that not only the cadres but the leaders at the district level were also indulging in superstitious activities. Many are devotees of human gods. In 2013, CPM’s Palakkad plenum had adopted strict action on these issues. But even after nine years and leadership’s repeated vouches these practices are still intact in the organisation. Moreover, various party district units and AKG Centre is flooded with petitions about leaders and active members’ bad behaviour.
The state secretariat while evaluating the situation felt the need for an emergency action plan. Many leaders in the DYFI and SFI were reportedly addicted to alcoholism. In north Kerala, Muslim student organisations alleged that it was through SFI’s undesirable tendencies like sexual anarchy that alcoholism entered the campuses. The CPM also found an increase in financial fraud through the party controlled cooperative institutions.
The leadership feels that there is a gang culture emerging within the party youth and student wings in the state capital. Youngsters in the SFI Thiruvananthapuram district unit are involved in several issues including drug abuse, alcoholism, sexual issues and financial malpractices. A section within the party feels that district secretary Anavoor Nagappan is not able to effectively rein in them.
“He has not been able to identify the right kind of candidates and recruit them. That has been cited as a failure. Adding to the issue, an audio clip which has now gone viral has a former SFI leader seeking sexual favours from a girl, while boasting about an illicit affair with another leader.
SFI DISTRICT PRESIDENT, SECRETARY SUSPENDED
T’Puram: Going for a major cleansing drive, the CPM has suspended three leaders, including the SFI district president, secretary and a DYFI leader. The party Thiruvananthapuram district committee took disciplinary action against the three, after it came under criticism for widespread charges related to alcoholism, drug abuse and financial irregularities involving DYFI and SFI leaders. DYFI leader J J Abhijith, SFI Thiruvananthapuram district president Jobin Jose and secretary Gokul Gopinath were those who were suspended.