CPI(M) has own killer gangs like communal forces, alleges Cong

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 19 (PTI): In a scathing attack on the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, the opposition Congress on Tuesday charged that the Marxist Party, like the 'majority and minority' communal forces, has its own killer gangs and the government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was afraid of questioning its leaders.

Speaking in the wake of the recent back-to-back killing of an RSS leader and a PFI activist in Palakkad, V D Satheesan, the leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, alleged that the government is now unable to take a firm stand against the killers because of its ''illicit'' links with the majority-minority communal forces during the time of elections.

He also criticised the recent statement of senior CPI(M) leader and Excise Minister M V Govindan that the majority communalism was the reason for the minority communalism and said the remark was like fishing in the turbulent waters.

''The position of the UDF is to oppose both the majority and minority communalism. There is no compromise with communalism for any reason,'' he told reporters here.

In Kerala, three groups have their own killer gangs- communal elements of the majority, the minority and the CPI(M), the Congress leader further alleged.

Noting that it is the duty and responsibility of the mainstream political parties to ensure that communalism is not mixed up in the public life of the state, he said communal forces of both the majority and minority should be isolated in the society.

He also asserted that the UDF would not join hands with any of them to destroy Kerala.

Satheesan sought to know whether any of the RSS or PFI leader was summoned by the police for interrogation in connection with the recent killings in Palakkad.

''Neither this government nor the police have the courage to do that. Vijayan is scared to question those who led the killer gangs. If questioned, they will divulge the details of conversations during the time of elections,'' Satheesan charged.

Srinivasan, a former district leader and office-bearer of RSS, was attacked by a six-member gang at his motorbike shop in Palakkad on Saturday, barely 24 hours after PFI activist Subair was hacked to death at Elappully in the district while he was returning home along with his father after offering prayers in a mosque on Friday afternoon.

The back-to-back killings involving BJP/RSS and SDPI/PFI is the second such incident in the past few months in Kerala.

In December last year in Alappuzha, a leader of SDPI and a leader of BJP were murdered within 24 hours.