THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Differences within the CPM over the ‘Kafir’ screenshot row were thrown wide open with secretary M V Govindan rejecting senior leader K K Shailaja’s public condemnation of party colleague K K Lathika for sharing the controversial screenshot on social media. Finding itself on the defensive after a police probe termed Left-leaning social media groups responsible for sharing the screenshot, a beleaguered CPM on Friday exhorted the police to zero in on those who had done so.
Addressing the media after the state secretariat meeting, Govindan spoke at length about the party’s secular credentials and questioned the Congress by alleging compromise on its position. “The police inquiry should expose the real culprits in the issue. Some are attacking Lathika alleging that she had shared it on FB. However, her real intention was not to spread the post, but rather give warning about the consequences of it,” he said.
He also dismissed Shailaja and M V Jayarajan’s statement against Lathika that she should not have shared it. “That is the opinion of some individuals. What I said is the position of the CPM,” he added. He said the so-called Left handlers like ‘Porali Shaji’ have no official connection with the CPM. “The CPM has its own mechanism to say things at state and district levels. Why are the media attacking the CPM by pointing out a section of the police report? Let the inquiry be completed,” he said. He also named UDF local workers against whom police had registered a case for spreading an obscene campaign and fake letters in the name of a religious leader.
Meanwhile, Jama’at-e-Islami Kerala amir P Mujeeb Rehman said CPM owned an apology on the controversy. “It has the potential to create communal division in the society. Kerala is a model for communal harmony, but Islamophobia is slowly catching up here too. An attempt to accentuate the communal polarisation was not expected from a party like the CPM,” he said.