Youth Congress state president Rahul Mankoottathil has been arrested by the police and has been sent to jail after the court denied him bail. The arrest and imprisonment of leaders following a political struggle is not uncommon. However, what is being discussed is the government's policy of dealing with political struggles politically and the manner in which the arrests were made. The charges filed against those who marched to the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram include 'deliberate provocation with intent to cause a riot.' Rahul was not absconding after the case was filed. He was very much a visible presence at the Kerala State School Kalolsavam held in Kollam. If the arrest was mandatory, it could have been done somewhere there or by summoning him by giving a notice. What was the need for him to be arrested in the early hours of the morning from his home, surrounded by police officers as if they were detaining an absconding terrorist? This turned out to be another type of police drama as they had done with the Nava Kerala Sadas-related protesters.
The fourth accused, Rahul Mankoottathil, is the first leader to be arrested in this case. He was arrested before the other three named in the chargesheet-legislators like Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, Shafi Parambil and M Vincent. The secretariat march led by Rahul was against the violence committed by the police, party workers and the Chief Minister's bodyguards against those who protested during the Nava Kerala Sadas bus journey. As the march turned violent, both the party workers and the police were injured. A police jeep was destroyed and other damages were caused. Following this, the police registered cases with non-bailable sections including intent to cause a riot. Kerala's political history is replete with protests and marches held by political parties. Many have turned violent too. But it is very unusual for the police to have taken such an action. There is no doubt that if violence occurs and public property is destroyed, the perpetrators - whoever they may be - should be brought to justice. However, the approach taken should not be biased. Intent to cause riot is not a charge that can be filed against anyone who the government doesn't like. The other day, the same serious charge was imposed on six students who posted posters in front of the coffee shop of a multinational company in Kozhikode as a protest against Israeli atrocities in Palestine. Around 40 Fraternity Movement activists who had marched in protest against that have also been charged with similar serious offence.
The Kerala Police has been facing the infamy of double justice for some time now. Things are progressing in such a way as to prove this allegation. In relation to the Nava Kerala Sadas and other incidents, the police have filed numerous cases against police officers and party workers, including the security detail of the Chief Minister. But other than filing the case, nothing further has been done. Simultaneously, other individuals face grave accusations and are placed under custody. On the other hand, individuals imprisoned for performing "rescue work" are greeted with open arms upon their release. The message that this sends is not at all wholesome for society. The Emergency was a period where there was police raj and excessive police power in the entire country including Kerala. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is currently in charge of the Home Department, is a person who was brutally beaten by the police as part of the police raj during the Emergency. His speech in the Legislative Assembly with a shirt stained with blood from the police beating is historic. The actions of the Pinarayi Vijayan, who experienced such horrors of police Raj himself, who is now ruling the police is more surprising than ironic. It cannot be allowed.