Monday, May 28, 2012

Narendra Modi Strongly Reacts against C.P.M Murder Politics

Gujarat CM Narendra Modi & Cong spokesman Rashid Alvi criticised the CPM leaders and the Centre for not acting punitively against party leader M M Mani's boast of murdering their political opponents.AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi today took on CPM saying that the language used by them is similar to that of terrorists. Modi was reacting to a speech made by CPM's Idukki district secretary M M Mani in which he stated that there had been instances of the party eliminating political rivals. "When leader of a political party says that we murder our political rivals, it is dangerous to our democracy. Where is NHRC (National Human Rights Commission)? We should raise our voice against such acts. Our workers keep giving their lives in Kerala," Modi said. "Is Delhi government sleeping and what is Kerala government doing on the issue," Modi remarked. "This language is same that of terrorists, Maoists and Naxalists," he further said. Mani's speech had sparked a raging political row in the country with the Congress and BJP saying it exposed CPM's "politics of violence". Speaking at a CPM event yesterday, Mani was trying to de-link the party from the May 4 murder in Kozhikode that has led to the arrest of about half a dozen of its leaders and activists. "If the party had had any role in the murder, it would not have been afraid to admit it," Mani bragged. As proof, he reeled off details about three earlier murders of political opponents. Mani said the CPM had in the past drawn up a list of opponents in his district and, consequently, three Congress activists were killed. The first, Ancheri Baby -- a worker of Congress labour arm INTUC -- was bumped off in the 1980s; another was hacked to death and the third beaten to death, he said. For good measure, Mani warned that the party would not shy away from neutralising its foes in the future, too, if necessary. His comments have come as a blow to CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's efforts to distance the party from the Chandrasekharan murder on the ground that physical annihilation of detractors was not part of party policy. Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy described Mani's comments as "serious" and said that suitable legal action would be taken. Rubbing it in, he asked Vijayan to react to Mani's claims. State police chief Jacob Punnoose has asked the district superintendent of police for a report on the contents of Mani's speech. Leaders of the ruling United Democratic Front have demanded that a case be registered against Mani. The mother of Ancheri Baby asked a private TV channel that the 1980s killing should be reinvestigated. All the seven people arrested in the case were acquitted for want of evidence. As for Chandrasekharan's murder, sources claim the investigators have obtained evidence that the plot was hatched at the higher levels of the party. ANI | May 28, 2012, AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi on Sunday criticized the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the central government for not condemning and acting punitively against party leader M M Mani's boast of murdering their political opponents. Addressing a function of BJP supporters in Ahmedabad, Modi described Mani's boast as shameful and questioned whether human rights organizations across the country, and in other parts of the world, were sleeping and not taking up this issue with more vigour. Alvi described the boast as tragic and unfortunate, and demanded that the CPI-M leadership apply strictures on Mani, an influential Kerala CPM leader. Mani had in a statement "revealed" that the party had "killed" political opponents in the past, pushing the Marxists on the back foot at a time they are trying to disown the murder of a former rebel. The Kerala CPM outfit, which is led by Pinarayi Vijayan, said that Mani had deviated from the party line, and therefore, his statement is disowned. Ironically, Mani, the CPM's Idukki district secretary, made his explosive remarks while trying to defend the party against allegations of plotting the killing of T P Chandrasekharan, who had left the CPM in 2008 and floated the Revolutionary Marxist Party. Speaking at a CPM event on Saturday, Mani was trying to de-link the party from the May 4 murder in Kozhikode that has led to the arrest of about half a dozen of its leaders and activists. "If the party had had any role in the murder, it would not have been afraid to admit it," Mani bragged. As proof, he reeled off details about three earlier murders of political opponents. Mani said the CPM had in the past drawn up a list of opponents in his district and, consequently, three Congress activists were killed.The first, Ancheri Baby - a worker of Congress labour arm INTUC - was bumped off in the 1980s; another was hacked to death and the third beaten to death, he said. For good measure, Mani warned that the party would not shy away from neutralising its foes in the future, too, if necessary. His comments have come as a blow to CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's efforts to distance the party from the Chandrasekharan murder on the ground that physical annihilation of detractors was not part of party policy. Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy described Mani's comments as "serious" and said that suitable legal action would be taken. Rubbing it in, he asked Vijayan to react to Mani's claims. State police chief Jacob Punnoose has asked the district superintendent of police for a report on the contents of Mani's speech. Leaders of the ruling United Democratic Front have demanded that a case be registered against Mani. The mother of Ancheri Baby asked a private TV channel that the 1980s killing should be reinvestigated. All the seven people arrested in the case were acquitted for want of evidence. As for Chandrasekharan's murder, sources claim the investigators have obtained evidence that the plot was hatched at the higher levels of the party. TOL

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Chandrasekharan murder: Three taken into custody

Kozhikode: The Kerala Police Saturday took into custody three suspects who are believed to be involved in the brutal murder of a former firebrand leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), who was hacked to death near here. T.P. Chandrasekharan, 51, was killed in Onchiyam near here Friday night while returning home on a two-wheeler. Police said his face was badly disfigured. The vehicle which the killers used, an Innova, has also been taken into custody. Speaking to IANS, a top police officer on condition of anonymity, said that those who have been picked up include facilitators, who are also likely to be involved in the crime. 'So far, no arrests have been made. But the investigation is going on. We are certain that we will be able to crack the case,' said the top police official. Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose told the media in New Delhi: 'As of now it looks like a pre-planned attack. A special police team has been formed to investigate it.' Chandrasekharan's body was taken from the Kozhikode Medical College hospital to the Town Hall for the public to pay homage and from there, it was taken to his home town. The funeral will take place Saturday night. Everywhere, huge crowds had gathered to have a one last look of the popular local leader who was brutally murdered. Meanwhile, both the ruling coalition as well as the opposition traded charges over the murder. The Congress Saturday blamed the CPI-M for the murder. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had called for a 12-hour state-wide shutdown Saturday which went off peacefully with shops and offices downing their shutters, but vehicles were allowed to ply. State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala, who reached Kozhikode told reporters that he has got information that this was a brutal crime that had the concurrence of the CPI- M. 'And now, it is for the police to come out with the truth. This crime shows how the CPI-M deals with its political adversaries,' said Chennithala. Home Minister T. Radhakrishnan has ordered a probe. Without naming anyone, he said it was known who was behind the murder. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy arrived from New Delhi in the wake of the incident. He reached the home of the deceased and met up with the immediate family members and assured them that the police will crack the case and the guilty will be booked. Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor Vaikom Viswam denied the CPI-M's hand in the killing. 'This is (meant) to malign our party,' he said. 'We demand an impartial inquiry.' Chandrasekharan was close to former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who now heads the opposition in the assembly, who came to pay his last respects. Chandrasekharan had left the CPI-M in 2008. In the 2009 local body polls, he led his newly-formed Revolutionary Marxist Party to victory in his home panchayat in Onchiyam and also in the nearby villages.