Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan appeared to stoutly defend senior bureaucrat M. Sivasankar’s right to publish his “harrowing” personal history as a “much-vilified” undertrial in the UAE diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case.
Fielding questions at a press conference, Mr. Vijayan said his former Principal Secretary had dwelled in detail about the politically prejudiced line of investigation. To a great degree, Mr. Sivasankar was the victim of a media witch-hunt.
The Centre's officialdom and powerful forces inimical to the State government had instigated the inquisition. The patently anti-Left mainstream media had played second fiddle to their political agenda.
He said some might have felt burned by Mr. Sivasankar's book. Those who had an axe to grind with the author over the autobiographical work had triggered the current controversy. Mr. Vijayan said Mr. Sivasankar had recounted the slander he endured at the hands of the media. The government would examine whether Mr. Sivasankar had permission to publish the work.
When pressed about the head-line grabbing interview given by Swapna Suresh, Mr. Sivasankar’s acquaintance and a co-accused in the crime, Mr. Vijayan said, “It’s a private matter between Swapna and Sivasankar”.
About Swapna's politically explosive statement that she had given an audio clipping about the Chief Minister's innocence of the crime to her jailers at the instance of Mr. Sivasankar, Mr. Vijayan said, “You (journalists) are interpreting the episode with a particular mindset aided by selective and questionable memory. You have forgotten the government had ordered a police investigation into the provenance of the audio clip and the underlying motive. The issue is now pending in the Supreme Court”.
Mr. Vijayan said he would examine the Communist Party of India's purported opposition to the Lok Ayukta amendment ordinance. The arguably harsh and inflexible provisions of the 1999 Act could create a conflict between the judicial and legislative branches of the government. Expert legal counsel and the Lok Pal Act guided the government's determination to promulgate the executive order.
The discord on Karnataka college campuses over wearing the hijab and the demonisation of Shah Rukh Khan's attendance at Lata Mangeshkar’s funeral highlighted the dangers of rising religious sectarianism to India's secular polity. Mr. Vijayan slammed the Centre for gagging the independent media. The MediaOne news channel was the latest victim, he said.
