The Hindu : CBI probe sought into Kozhikode incidents

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 04, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

CBI probe sought into Kozhikode incidents

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 3. With the BJP in Kerala seeking Central intervention into Friday's killings of RSS workers in the communally-sensitive Marad area of Kozhikode, the Union Minister of State for Home, I.D. Swami, will visit the area on Monday and present a report to Parliament the following day.

The decision to send Mr. Swami to Kerala was taken by the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, after the Kerala unit of the party formally sought his intervention. Meanwhile, the BJP general secretary, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, alleged that Kerala has become a hub of terrorist activity under the Congress-led UDF Government and demanded a CBI probe and a judicial enquiry.

In a statement, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, said she was confident that the State Government would bring the culprits to book at the earliest and strive to prevent the recurrence of such episodes. Extending her condolences to the affected families, she said it was disturbing that a State like Kerala — which has so many achievements in social welfare — should have witnessed communal clashes.

The newly-appointed AICC general-secretary in charge of Kerala, Ahmed Patel, spoke to the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, K. Muraleedharan, and indicated the possibility of the high command sending a team from Delhi to monitor the situation once they sent in their reports.

However, according to the senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Kerala, K. Karunakaran, there was no need for the AICC to send a team as the Chief Minister and the KPCC president were there to handle the situation.

Stating that such communal clashes did not augur well for Kerala, Mr. Karunakaran blamed the police for the situation and questioned the failure of intelligence. Reacting to the Director-General of Police, K.J. Joseph's contention that this was not a communal clash, but the handiwork of certain political elements, he said "if those handling the situation have such a mindset, how can things be set in order.''

Though he refused to comment on whether the Antony Government was lenient towards communal forces — particularly in view of the Chief Minister's statement that he would not stop trishul distribution in the State — Mr. Karunakaran said Marad was a pointer to what lay ahead if such activities were not nipped in the bud.

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