Kerala Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan says CM’s barefaced defence of DYFI assaulters prompted him to speak harshly

kerala opposition Leader Satheesan condemns Chief Minister's defence of DYFI workers' attack on YC activists, says only a criminal mind can justify such violence. He warns of strident language to condemn such shamefaced defence of criminals. UDF to hold mock trials to spotlight LDF's failures. Public has rejected Navakerala Sadas. Ministers on jaunt, police assaulting media persons.

Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan told reporters in Kozhikode on November 23, 2023 that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s barefaced defence of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers “who unleashed wanton violence on Youth Congress black flag demonstrators in Kannur on Tuesday” had compelled him to speak harshly.

(The alleged attack resulted in severe injuries to four Youth Congress (YC) activists, prompting the police to book 14 DYFI workers on the charge of attempted murder and aggravated assault.)

Mr. Satheesan had drawn flak from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leadership for referring to Mr. Vijayan as a “criminal lording over a gangster State” in the immediate aftermath of the street violence.

Mr. Satheesan seemed reluctant to moderate his position despite the criticism. “Only a criminal mind can justify persons who attacked a Youth Congress worker hailing from a fisherfolk family with flower pots, iron rods and helmets as the police stood by and watched approvingly. The youth’s offence was that he and a set of compatriots waved a black flag from afar as Mr. Vijayan’s motorcade swept by”.

Mr. Satheesan drew a contrast between YC’s “peaceful and muted protest” and the DYFI’s “murderous attack” on the late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy near the venue of a UDF government mass contact programme in 2013.

Mr. Satheesan warned that he would be constrained to use strident language to condemn such shamefaced defence of criminals from the Chief Minister who was constitutionally bound to uphold the law and protect the life and property of citizens.

Mr. Satheesan signalled that the Congress had not sanctioned the black flag protest that turned violent. “It was a one-off demonstration. The UDF will hold mock trials across the State to spotlight the LDF’s failures in December”, he said.