Kasaragod: With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the ruling CPM in Kerala is caught in a situation after the murder of two Youth Congress workers at Periya in Kasaragod district on Sunday.
Fearing that it may suffer blows in the battle of ballot, the CPM is now desperate to demonstrate publicly an image of a party which is against political violence. However, its local committee member A Peethambaran was arrested for the gruesome murder of Youth Congress workers Sharathlal and Kripesh. The CPM is a party which doesn't abandon its cadres when in trouble and it definitely wants to help the prime accused in the case. But the party cannot afford to show that it is helping the accused in the case. So, leaders after leaders have been making statements that the party has expelled Peethambaran and it won't support violence.
However, the party's dual standards are coming out slowly now. The family of Peethambaran on Wednesday revealed that the party had attempted to pacify his wife and mother by offering them money and legal assistance after they alleged that he committed the crime for the party.
The family had earlier claimed that he won't commit such a crime and if he is owning up that then it must be for someone in the CPM. However, the CPM had refuted these allegations.
Despite these denials, the family members told Malayala Manorama that CPM district leaders, including former MLA from Uduma constituency K V Kunhiraman, visited their house at Periya. This was after TV channels started airing the statements of Peethambaran's wife Manju and mother Thambayi that he would not commit any offence that did not have the prior sanction of the CPM leadership.
Immediately after the party leaders' visit, Manju and Thambayi changed their statements and told mediapersons: “We were under great stress and it was an emotional response from us. We don’t have anything else to say.”
Maintaining that the CPM had no role in the incident, Peethambaran's family later disclosed that the party leaders made certain 'offers' to them and they were not allowed to speak to the media.
Distancing itself from the accused, the party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had earlier said that the CPM would not protect the perpetrators of political killings and those behind the crime would not be spared.
Disclosing details about the offer, the Peethambaran's kin said, “The leaders told us not to worry and the party will be at our side. Peethambaran was a dedicated worker so the party would not leave him in the lurch. Though they gave us some money, we didn’t accept it. We still believe that Peethambaran has been made a scapegoat to save the real leaders who plotted the murders.”
“I told them (party leaders) that I don’t need money as compensation for spoiling my son’s life,” Peethambaran’s mother said.
Before the CPM leaders' visit, the family had said that Peethambaran would not commit such a crime on his own and without the knowledge of the party top brass. They claimed that Peethambaran had largely confined himself to his house ever since he had suffered an injury to his right hand in an attack by local Congress men in January. “So, given his physical condition, it is hard to believe that he would get involved in a crime of such magnitude. He has been made a scapegoat,” they alleged.
However, Kodiyeri rubbished the allegations saying that 'maybe he (Peethambaran) must have told his wife that he committed the murder for the party. The party is not responsible for their misunderstanding. The CPM local, area, and district committees have already made it clear that the party had no role in the twin murders. She (Peethambaran’s wife) may not be ready to accept the reality. It is a natural response to save her husband”.
Later the family said, “We don’t have anything to tell to the media. What we had said before was due to the mental trauma we were going through. We don’t want to make any more comments”.
Kodiyeri on Thursday also reiterated that the party would not provide legal aid to Peethambaran. He also claimed that he doesn't have any idea about any CPM leader approaching the family with an offer on his personal capacity. “That will only be a personal help,” he added.
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