Satheesan slams CM’s silence on custodial torture

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for maintaining silence over the alleged custodial torture at the Kunnamkulam police station.

Addressing the media at Adoor, Satheesan said that a disgraceful incident had taken place under the Chief Minister’s own department, yet he had chosen not to speak a word. “If the Chief Minister believes no action will be taken, let him say it openly, we will show him how we respond. Sujith was brutally assaulted, struck with a cane on his legs at least 15 times, and beaten mercilessly in places beyond the reach of cameras,” he warned.

To a query on the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, Mr. Satheesan urged the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board to first answer the questions raised by the UDF. He asked whether they would withdraw the affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court that encouraged the violation of temple traditions and whether they would retract the cases filed against devotees for participating in nama japam processions.

“During the tenure of the previous UDF government, 112 acres of forest land were acquired for the Sabarimala development project and alternative land was allotted in Idukki. Yet for the last nine and a half years, nothing has been done for Sabarimala. And now, in the tenth year, those who did nothing speak of the Master Plan only to deceive devotees,” pointed out Mr.Satheesan.

He further accused the Left Democratic Front of giving space to communal outfits and organisations by creating a furore over the issue. “It is ironic that those who once branded the UDF as regressive and feudal for standing with devotees are today the very ones marching under the banner of the Global Ayyappa Sangamam. These are the same people who once created the so-called Navodhana Samiti (Renaissance Committee) to justify violations of temple traditions. That committee still exists today, with the same stance and yet from that very position, they are now participating in the Global Ayyappa Sangamam,” he pointed out.