Kerala HC raps CPM: In Kannur, manslaughter a sport

In Kannur, manslaughter a competing sport: HC
12 Mar 2008, 0733 hrs IST,Ananthakrishnan G,TNN

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KOCHI: Complicating matters for the ruling Left Front government, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday expressed strong displeasure at "politicisation" of police in Kannur and observed that the only solution to bring an end to the ongoing clashes between CPM and RSS workers was to deploy Central forces.

It also ordered a CBI probe into the murder of a newspaper agent in Kannur in 2006.

"The only solution (in Kannur) seems to be a timely intervention by Central government by deploying sufficient forces which will not yield to the political or plutocratic clout by those in power and out of power," said Justice V Ramkumar. The court was hearing a plea filed by the widow of Mohammed Fazal, who was killed in an attack in October 2006.

The order also had a word for the state governor. "It is hoped that there will be a gubernatorial move to appraise the Central government of the urgent need for a permanent prophylactic action to curb further bloodshed and killings in Kannur district where manslaughter is a competing sport," it said, adding, "Blessed are those who are able to die a natural death in Thalassery." A stunned CPM went ballistic. "The judge has exceeded his jurisdiction. The HC is interfering in the state duties. This is a misuse of judicial power. The HC has deviated from the case at hand and arrived at conclusions without hearing what the state had to say," CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said.

"How can any court ask the governor to approach the Centre without even hearing what the state has to say? The HC has raised points which even the opposition has not. This is based only on media reports and hearsay," Vijayan said.

While BJP reacted with a glee, Congress leader Oommen Chandy said the HC observation was proof that justice could not be expected from the state home department.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/In_Kannur_manslaughter_a_sport_HC/articleshow/2856816.cms

Only Centre can end Kannur violence: High Court

Special Correspondent (The Hindu, March 12, 2008)

Hopes that Governor will apprise Centre of the need for urgency
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Court says all-party peace missions are nothing but a hoax

Blames police for shielding culprits
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Kochi: The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday, observed that the only solution to end the violence in Kannur district seemed to be a timely intervention by the Union government by deploying sufficient forces that “will not yield to the political or plutocratic clout by those in powers and out of power.”

Justice V. Ramkumar expressed the hope that there would be a “gubernatorial move to apprise the Central Government of the urgent need for a permanent prophylactic action to curb further bloodshed and killings in Kannur District where manslaughter is a competing sport.” The court made these observations while ordering an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the murder of Muhammed Fasal, a National Development Front (NDF) worker in Thalassery. The petitioner, Mariyu, alleged that her husband was murdered by Communist Party of India (Marxist) activists because he had defected to the NDF from the party.

The court said that there had not been “any intelligent investigation” in the case.

Only a hoax

The court observed that “all-party peace missions are nothing but a hoax to hoodwink the fickle-minded public.” Past lessons showed that restoration of peace and harmony was only “an evanescent episode invariably followed by a history of repeated violence and vindictive vandalism.” No serious concern appeared to have been shown to this manmade holocaust in which the breadwinners of several families had been “slain to death,” driving the widows and children literally to the streets, the judge said. The court observed that if reports were to be believed, Kannur district, particularly Thalassery, had, over the years, become “the hotbed of political violence and carnage of the worst order.” “All political parties there seem to freely indulge in the cult of violence.”

Veritable demons

The people of that area, “although very friendly, affable and hospitable to others, turn mad and transform themselves into veritable demons while under the seizure of acute political acrimony,” the court said.

The judge observed that the State police were “par excellence in crime detention and investigation,” provided there was no political or other intervention. But the ground reality was that there was a different picture in Kannur.

“It is a shame that even if it be for survival, the police [are] pandering to the vicious instincts of the influential politicians by shielding from punishment those who are really guilty and projecting either innocent persons listed out from the party office or arranging party confidants who volunteer to go to the dock and eventually to the prison houses at the party’s expenses,” the court said.

Diabolic designs

There were reported instances of the people’s representatives with “diabolic designs” barging into police stations to rescue their own party criminals from the police lock-ups, the High Court said.

Experience showed that whichever party came to power, violence and political killings continued unabashedly in this part of the State, and the common man there lived in constant fear and, very often, there was “a crippling standstill rendering normal life of the people miserable,” the court added.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/12/stories/2008031257360100.htm