Congress fuelling communal unrest to mask infighting: M V Govindan

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI M state secretary M V Govindan accused the United Democratic Front of stirring deliberate unrest across Kerala, claiming the recent clashes in Perambra were no accident but a planned provocation. Speaking at a press briefing, he alleged that a sitting MP had directed an assault on the police, with crude explosives and other weapons used in the attack, injuring several officers, including those of senior rank.

M V Govindan said that what followed, attempts to spark wider rioting, was part of a calculated political move. “Congress tried to set off trouble across the state,” he remarked, adding that the public had already seen through what he called a campaign of falsehoods portraying the police as the aggressors.

The CPI M leader went further, claiming that the UDF, Jamaat-e-Islami, and SDPI were now working hand in glove to shift attention away from internal strife within the Congress camp. “They are using riots and religious division as distractions,” he said. He cited the case of St Rita’s School in Palluruthy, where a dispute long since settled was, according to him, deliberately dragged back into controversy. “Even after resolution, the Opposition leader and these organisations sought to communalise it,” he added. The Education Minister, Govindan noted, had taken a measured and lawful position, insisting that every citizen holds the democratic right to dress as they choose.

Turning to the Sabarimala gold theft investigation, Govindan defended the state government and judiciary, saying both had acted promptly and without bias. A special investigation team, he said, had already taken the main suspect into custody and begun questioning. “It’s moving fast, faster than many expected,” he observed. Well-known figures and lesser-known hands alike are now being examined, he said, calling it part of a broader plot to sow discord during the Ayyappa pilgrimage season. “All who played a part will face the law,” he assured, dismissing Congress’s effort to use the case for political mileage as “a futile exercise”.

Govindan also framed the issue as one of long-standing principle. He argued that the CPI M, the Left Front, and successive Left governments have stood with ordinary believers, with those who queue, wait, and pray, not those who profit from division. That, he said, is precisely why communal and right-wing groups find the Left’s position intolerable.

“The government’s course is clear,” M V Govindan said. “Those guilty will be held accountable, and the stolen gold will be reclaimed. This state won’t bow to those who spread hatred in the name of faith.”