VS hits out at League leadership

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 28. Stung by the Muslim League leadership's depiction of him as a communalist, the CPI(M) politburo member, Mr. V. S. Achuthanandan, has hit out at the League leadership, accusing it of having used the last stint of the UDF Government to convert education into a commodity available to the rich and powerful for a price.In a statement here today, Mr. Achuthanandan wanted to know how he could be branded a communalist merely because he had raised his voice against corruption and injustice that marked the functioning of the Education Department under UDF rule.

Mr. Achuthanandan's hard-hitting statement is significant in the context of the CPI(M) bid to woo the Muslim League. He is obviously hoping to engage the League leadership in a war of words.

``Can corruption be opposed after looking at who would benefit from it? Communists do not care for the identity of the people involved when raising corruption charges. The CPI(M) grew up fighting against evil social practices and injustice. I had opposed the commercialisation of education under UDF rule as a humble worker of the party and Leader of the Opposition. Branding me as a communalist because of this is a challenge to the commonsense of the people,'' Mr. Achuthanandan said.

The CPI(M) leader said he had never opposed any decision beneficial to the backward communities and Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The UDF attempt was to privatise education using the backward communities. They also tried to mint crores of rupees by sanctioning colleges and schools to traders in education. A stage came when the children of the poor among the backwards were denied educational rights. Such policies could not but be opposed.

Mr. Achuthanandan said he wrote a letter to the then Governor against the Government move to sanction 71 new colleges in one go during 1994-'95. He had pointed out that the colleges were proposed to be started without observing accepted norms. The Kerala University had sanctioned only four out of the 71 colleges. In the case of the others, applications as laid down in Section 56 of the University Statutes had not been submitted.

The Kerala High Court's subsequent verdict in a case relating to grant of admission to self-financing engineering colleges at Kasaragod and Chengannur had proved his charges to be true. The UDF Government had flouted reservation norms when granting admissions to the self-financing engineering colleges. It had fixed high capitation fees and created a climate conducive for backdoor admissions. Would the Muslim League leadership say that all this done for the backward communities, he asked.

Mr. Achuthanandan said the previous Government had not only tried to appease communal parties, but also tried to help the richer sections among minorities. Pointing out that even Muslim students with high ranks had not been given admission to the MES Engineering College, Valancherry, from the open merit quota, he wanted to know if this was not the real assault on minority interests.

He was not motivated by communal or religious considerations when he opposed corruption and misrule under the previous Government. As Opposition Leader, he had raised several corruption charges including that relating to the palmolein import deal. Subsequent events had proved that several of the charges he had raised were true. Facts showed that the stand taken by the LDF on the education sector under UDF rule were also correct.

The LDF, he said, was committed to protecting minority rights and defending minorities against onslaughts from majority communal forces. He was also confident that the people would not be swayed by the League leadership's depiction of him as a communalist. He appealed to the League leadership to withdraw their statement and reminded that otherwise their action would hurt their own credibility.

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Section  : Southern States
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