The Congress, tapping into the ground swell of public outrage over the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl child hailing from a migrant worker family in Aluva in Ernakulam, assailed the government for alleged police apathy and incompetence.
It also gave the heinous crime a national dimension, with Congress leader Benny Behanan, MP, raising the issue in the Parliament.
At home, Congress workers marched to the Aluva police station, accusing the police of not taking a crack at tracing the missing child and sitting on the complaint lodged by the hapless parents.
According to the sources, the Left leaders argued that at a time when the entire Opposition was united on the demand that the Prime Minister give a statement on Manipur on the floor of the House and was working under the common INDIA banner, why were the Congress MPs bringing local issues to the floor of Parliament, trying to corner the LDF government in Kerala.
One of the Left leaders said, “They talk big about it being a larger battle and unity to face the stronger machinery of the BJP, then why are they dragging in these local issues?”
The Congress, on its part, tried to placate the Left leaders and asked them to understand the compulsion and commitments of each MP towards their constituency.
The incident catalysed the Congress protest against the Pinarayi Vijayan government’s alleged subversion of law enforcement to wreak political vengeance against Opposition leaders and the independent media.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said an “extra-constitutional” authority that operated from the shadow of power in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) controlled the police at the CPI(M) ‘s behest.
It had rendered the police fearful of political retribution and eroded the department’s inherent hierarchy. Mr. Satheesan alleged that a few officers slavishly obsequious to those in power acted as the ruling party’s cat’s paw.
The police’s breathtaking inanities included registering a case against a sound system for breaking into static during the Chief Minister’s speech.
At the same time, law and order were going into a tailspin. Crimes against women and children abounded. The peddling of synthetic narcotic drugs appeared unchecked.
The government pushed back against the opposition’s attempt to put it on the back foot. It announced an ex-gratia payment for the child’s family. Health Minister Veena George called on the bereaved parents.
CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan and Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener E.P.Jayarjan accused Congress of cruelly politicising a shocking tragedy. They defended the police by pointing out that investigators arrested the suspect within hours of the crime.
(With inputs from New Delhi bureau)
