Just as they did on July 15, the Opposition UDF was expected to right away disrupt Assembly proceedings on Monday in protest against what it termed as M M Mani's regressive remarks against RMP MLA K K Rema.
The UDF had earlier said it would not allow the Assembly to function until Mani apologised for his remarks. However, instead of stalling the Assembly, the UDF allowed the House to function smoothly, not causing any disturbance in the name of Mani.
On July 15, the day after Mani made the controversial remarks, the UDF had caused pandemonium even before the Question Hour began. The Assembly dispersed without conducting any legislative business.
Nonetheless, even while keeping their protest in check on Monday, the Opposition opted for a sensible approach against Mani. Right after the Zero Hour, after the ministers responded to the submissions moved by the MLAs, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan stood up and made a brief intervention. He wanted the Speaker to pass a ruling on Mani's comments.
Since it was clear that Mani was not going to say sorry or withdraw his remarks, Satheesan ridiculed the CPM's progressive claims. "Does the CPM believe in fate," he asked. "The party seems to have reached the conclusion that a woman's widowhood was her fate. Does such a thought sit well with a progressive state like Kerala," Satheesan said.
He said the highly regressive medieval practice of 'sati' came out of the idea of fate. The Opposition Leader suggested that the CPM was pulling Kerala back to such a medieval rut.
He also likened the LDF members to Kauravas of the epic. "This House should not be transformed into a Kaurava Sabha where Duryodhanas and Dushasanas, who have scant respect for womanhood, wreak havoc," Satheesan said.
Now that Mani was unwilling to apologise, Satheesan said it was up to the Speaker to examine Mani's comments and duly remove them from the Assembly records. Deputy Speaker Chittayam Gopakumar, who was in the chair, said he would look into the issue and take the necessary action.
It is highly unlikely that Mani's remarks would be expunged. On July 15, Speaker M B Rajesh had said that there was nothing unparliamentary about Mani's comments. He had hinted that there was nothing the Speaker could do if there were no explicitly insulting words that violated the decorum of the House. As example, the Speaker said he had not expunged Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan's remarks against the Chief Minister simply because he had not used any unparliamentary words. "The MLA (Kuzhalnadan) did not withdraw his comments though the Chief Minister had said his charges were absolutely bereft of truth," the Speaker had said.
On July 14, during a discussion in the Assembly, M M Mani had remarked that Rema's widowhood was her fate and that his party was not responsible for what happened to her. Though the CPM had stood firmly behind Mani, prominent CPI leaders like Annie Raja and Binoy Viswam had criticised Mani saying LDF politics was also about fighting for women's rights.
