Thiruvananthapuram: Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party state presidents have decried a speech by Communist Party of India Marxist state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, which they claim is an open call for violence.
Addressing a meeting in Payyannur, Balakrishnan had accused the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of carrying out RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat’s agenda in Kerala, adding that “BJP cadres must understand that if they intend violence, they will get back in the same coin”.
“Those who come to attack CPM cadres should not be allowed to go back in the same manner that they came”, Balakrishnan was quoted as saying.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, V.M. Sudheeran said Balakrishnan’s statement was an open call for violence. “His choice of words were a virtual challenge to the law and order system”, Sudheeran said.
“Balakrishnan was openly inciting violence and a case should be filed against him”, Sudheeran said.
Reacting to Balakrishnan’s public speech, BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan said the CPM state secretary ought to be prosecuted.
Rajasekharan said Balakrishnan was effectively calling for an armed struggle, adding that Balakrishnan was also attempting to find a scapegoat in BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the problems he has with his own chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan.
“People of the state long for peace and tranquillity. Balakrishnan’s call for violence and use of force is a crime that does not deserve pardon,” Rajasekharan said.
CPM-BJP political violence was triggered again earlier this month, with one activist from each side being hacked to death. The murders, both considered political killings, happened within the space of two hours in Kannur district.
The two deceased persons were identified as C.K. Ramachandran (46), a BJP worker, and C.V. Dhanarajan (36) an activist of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPM.
