By Shankar Raj*
If there is any dispute in Kerala – be it boundary disputes between individuals, matrimonial issues, child custody cases or permissions for changing land profiles – there is a khap at work – a unique ‘single window’ system where matters are settled by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The khap also exercises the power to execute people through grisly murders. And the khap comprises the government in power, the CPM and the police.
Even the policemen first dial the CPM to get local issues or troublesome cases resolved. But the khap is strictly run to save the special ones or party workers and lesser mortals are crushed under its merciless feet.
Despite Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan government’s directive to party workers to stay away from police matters, local leaders are known to arm-twist or influence cops at stations, revenue officials and government staff to settle cases.
CBI RIPS APART POLICE INVESTIGATION
The recent case is the double murder of Congress workers at Periya. The CBI arrested five men, all linked to the CPM, in connection with the murder of Youth Congress workers Kripesh, 19, and Sarath Lal P K, 24, on February 17, 2019. The arrests ripped apart the investigation by the police as they had named three of these five accused as ‘prosecution witnesses’ in their chargesheet.
In other words, the murderers themselves were ‘witnesses.’
The CBI probe exposed how the cops tried to shield CPM party workers and many in top leadership secretly admit that the murder investigation has caused major damage to the party and the government.
Senior CPM leader and former MLA KV Kunhiraman has been named by the CBI as an accused in the Periya twin murder case. However, in the investigation done by the local police, his name did not figure at all.
BIG DAMAGE
With the CBI now at the doorsteps of party’s senior leadership for its alleged conspiratorial role behind the murder, the CPM finds itself cornered.
The Periya murder has undoubtedly caused the next big damage to the party after 2012 TP Chandrasekharan murder case in which highly armed CPM workers hacked him to death on May 4, 2012.
“The CPM’s role and the conspiracy hatched by the party leadership have been exposed. It’s evident that the party’s top leadership has a role and the local leadership was only implementing the plan,” said K K Rema, wife of TP, commenting on the Periya case.
Not just murder. Last year, while answering a query on the sexual harassment allegation against a CPM leader, the then chairperson of Kerala Women’s Commission M C Josephine said that her party (CPM) was the court and the police station. The senior CPM leader, who had to quit office eventually following her arrogant treatment of complainants, was making public a practice that had been prevalent for long.
CHILD CUSTODY CASE
This was highlighted by Anupama S Chandran, who led a successful fight for the custody of her baby, against the top CPM leaders. In this case too, Anupama and her partner Ajith first approached the CPM district leadership with a complaint seeking the custody of their baby boy. Both of them refused to speak to the media initially as they had firmly believed their party would deliver justice and get their child back. It was only after the child was given in adoption to a couple in Andhra Pradesh that they realised the folly and approached the media for recourse.
Pinarayi, who used to meet the media regularly, has not convened a single press conference after Anupama’s issue became a controversy.
There are always ‘special cases’ of the ‘more equal’ which the party would take up as a mission. The silence of the Kerala chapter of All India Democratic Women’s Association in the Anupama case is a clear signal of the party’s interest. “The AIDWA chapter here seems to be dead. National leaders like Brinda Karat and Subhashini Ali had extended moral support to Anupama. But they are helpless to do anything beyond that,” J Devika, academic and writer, who is a part of the Anupama-Ajith solidarity forum, was quoted in the media.
In another case of suicide of Mofiya Praveen Dilshad, relatives of 21-year-old cite the ‘role’ of a local CPM leader and the police. The leader allegedly helped the family of Mofiya’s husband to scuttle the domestic-violence complaint filed by her at the police station.
The Walayar case is no different. The mother of the girls found dead at Walayar in 2017, after being subjected to sexual harassment, had also alleged how the local CPM leaders ‘influenced’ the probe to sabotage it.
COPS TOO ARE VICTIMS
Even policemen are sometimes victims of the CPM if they do not toe the line of the party. A classic case is that of former IPS officer K Radhakrishnan, who was allegedly harassed and denied retirement benefits for not toeing the CPM line in a murder case. He claimed in the media that the Chief Minister behaved in a rude manner when he pleaded for mercy.
“I met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his chamber in August 2018 seeking to revoke my suspension. I told him that all my resources have dried up as the government has blocked my salary and there is no other option for me but to commit suicide along with the family. His response was ‘ennal angane avatte’ (Then let it be so). I was shocked. I walked out of the CM’s chamber with a heavy heart. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I collapsed on a chair in the corridors as I felt giddy,” he reminisced.
The officer is now working as a security officer at a private company in a neighbouring state to support his family. Radhakrishnan alleged that in 2016, he was suspended from service for four-and-a-half years, tortured mentally and physically and was denied retirement and pension benefits as he refused to accept the narrative of the CPM as the investigation officer in the 2006 Muhammad Fazal murder case.
FALSELY IMPLICATED
According to him, he was removed from the investigation, falsely implicated in a case and suspended for two years in 2006. His daughter, who is a research scholar, has opted for part-time research as the family cannot afford her hostel expenses. His son, a postgraduate, dropped out of the civil service coaching course. Radhakrishnan had to sell his family property to fight the case against suspension and his house was auctioned by the bank as he defaulted on loan repayment.
The police do not spare even the tribals. Recently a tribal youth who was arrested by the police on charges of car theft despite him claiming that he doesn’t know how to drive has said that he had only leaned on the car which led to an argument with its owner.
Deepu Raghavan said the case was fabricated and that he was brutally beaten up in police custody. The 22-year-old was released from jail only after a court granted him bail.
In another case, it took 45 days for the police to register a case of dowry harassment because a sub-inspector reportedly called up CPM leaders to help thrash out a compromise instead of registering an FIR.
KHAKI EGO
Not just men, even the Pink Police are known for harassing citizens. A woman police officer attached to the Pink Patrol allegedly mortified an eight-year-old child and her father in public accusing them of theft. Intervening in the case, the Kerala High Court said the officer’s behaviour reflected “khaki ego and khaki arrogance”.
After watching video footage of the incident online, Justice Devan Ramachandran said the incident was very disturbing and added that he was pained to see the child crying when the police officer reprimanded her.
Even the judiciary is alarmed. “God help our state,” said an exacerbated High Court. The comment was made in the wake of a 21-year-old law student’s death by suicide alleging domestic violence and lackadaisical attitude of a circle inspector over her complaint. If there is a prompt action against any erring police officer, the entire force would change its attitude. The court, in an oral observation, also expressed concern over the rise in the number of complaints regarding police harassment.
Justice Devan Ramachandran orally observed that “If the State takes swift and stringent action against one police officer, just one is enough, the entire police force would change its attitude. Till then, this will continue; people will be chained, killed, and even forced to commit suicide.”
TERROR FIELD
A police station is a public office, not a ‘terror field’. Any man, woman, or child should feel free and confident to walk into a police station at any time. The court also asked the government “why do you always restrict punishments to police officers with disciplinary action? What is this hesitation to take action against police officers? Police have to be protectors, they cannot be persecutors”.
In fact, records show that 744 police officers in Kerala are accused in different criminal cases and 18 of them have been dismissed from service so far, the Chief Minister informed the State Assembly. Department-level action was taken against 691 officials, the CM said in his written reply in the Assembly recently.
SIGNIFICANT
The number assumes significance at a time when the State is witnessing increasing involvement of police officers in criminal incidents. “We had raised the issue in the assembly after noticing that many police officials were being named as accused in criminal cases registered during the term of the first Pinarayi government. It’s shocking that there are many criminals among policemen,” Rema told the media.
“Though the government says departmental action was initiated against many, it’s evident that proper action was taken against only 18 officers. In view of the recent incidents, we will continue to take up the issue within the assembly and outside,” Rema added.
This khap culture in the CPM is not new. Since the first Communist government in 1957, allegations of cell rule have been frequently levelled against the party. The practice of local committee and area committee members influencing the police stations concerned for settling cases was dominant during the rule of LDF governments. When the Pinarayi Vijayan government took over in 2016, there were specific instructions to the partymen not to interfere with police affairs. The directive was reissued after the swearing-in of the second Pinarayi government. But senior party leaders flouted the directive and started running a parallel ‘department of justice’ with impunity.
CELL RULE
The party has progressed from cell rule. They now interfere in any sphere of governance to serve the vested interest of senior leaders. The cadre unleash propaganda terrorism to silence all critics. This is a rather new practice. And for this the police and police stations are used by the partymen.
Even the CPM’s partner in power is critical. Increasing incidents of police excesses under the government have invited the ire of CPI, the second largest ally in ruling LDF. Unleashing a scathing criticism against the way the police have been functioning in the state, especially in the wake of the suicide of law student Mofiya Parveen, the CPI said lapses by the police have cast a shadow on the government’s image.
The CPI reminded the Pinarayi Vijayan government that it has a responsibility to ensure the rule of law in a fair manner. Excesses by the police who are meant to protect are unacceptable, it said.
GRAVE DERELICTION
“Such incidents reveal not only grave dereliction of duty, but also criminal conduct and inhuman approach by police officials. Even as the Kerala Police win laurels, such lapses kick up undue political controversy. Even a drop of poison is enough to make anything toxic, irrespective of how sweet it is,” the party said in an article.
“Such police officials are an insult not only to the Kerala Police’s good image, but also to a democratic society. That the police force which is meant to ensure law and order in society stoops to such a level cannot be accepted,” it said. Even top police officials are under suspicion, it said, referring to the accident that killed two models in Kochi and the Monson Mavunkal case (a high-flying person who took top police officials for a ride while dealing with fake artefacts).
One thing for sure: the khap panchayats are here to stay during the CPM regime.
*Shankar Raj is former Editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs. The views expressed are personal.
