THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The grievances raised by Left independent MLA P V Anvar, and backed by CPM legislator K T Jaleel and ex-MLA Karat Razak, have takers in other parties too. Cutting across political parties, many leaders support the complaints raised by Anvar. Many IUML legislators too have similar grievances about the police in Malappuram and Kasaragod districts.
These leaders suspect a nexus between high-ranking police officers and the Sangh Parivar. And they feel inaction by chief minister’s political secretary P Sasi has aggravated the issue.
Sources said Anvar and other leaders had tried to bring the alleged nexus to Sasi’s notice. “After the second Pinarayi government took over, there’s a clear change in the manner in which police officers respond, especially at police stations in Malappuram,” an LDF leader told TNIE on condition of anonymity. “The officers obey instructions from BJP leaders but they don’t even listen to MLAs. It became clear that BJP leaders were controlling the force,” he said.
There are also allegations that a woman IPS officer posted in north Kerala has links with the RSS. However, no action was taken against the officer. The BJP has a good presence in Kasaragod district and the party considers Manjeshwar a winnable constituency. Anvar had brought these issues to Sasi’s attention more than once. He even brought it to the notice of the Chief Minister’s Office and the party leadership.
In another related development, Muslim League leaders in Kasaragod have raised this issue with the IUML leadership. However, the League leadership instructed its 15 MLAs to keep quiet on the allegations raised by Anvar as the IUML does not want any communal angle to come up.
The League’s Malappuram district leadership doubts a conspiracy in the data shown in the surge in criminal cases. “There is a 330% increase in cases registered here,” said an IUML leader who did not want to be named.
“There seems to be a concerted effort to project Malappuram as a district with the highest crime rate. We can compare it with the crime data from the past. Undoubtedly, there’s a Sangh parivar agenda behind all these,” he said. Both the CPM and the Muslim League are handling the issue with utmost care as they fear any slip in action would land them in a communal trap.
