Congress was silent on Setalvad, Sreekumar arrests: Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan unleashed an attack on Congress on Monday, asking why the national party is keeping mum on the arrest of retired DGP R B Sreekumar and activist Teesta Setalvad by the Gujarat Police regarding the 2002 Gujarat riots, The Indian Express (TIE) reported.

Vijayan, also a CPM Politburo member, said that Congress could have organized at least a small protest. Sreekumar and Setalvad were arrested on the same day when the Emergency was declared in 1975, and this must be with an intention to frighten anti-BJP forces, he said. The Congress is not acting because the party of scared of Sangh Parivar's threat and fears BJP, Vijayan slammed. He suggested that all the party's standing with Congress must consider this seriously.

After the arrests, Congress issued a lukewarm reaction, reports TIE. Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi told The Indian Express, "We have heard of the arrests. It appears to be in relation to alleged offences of forgery and fabrication arising out of events that took place between the years immediately following 2002, even though the FIR registered appears to be dated June 25th, 2022. We hope and trust that proper and full due process of law will be followed meticulously." He also said that Congress, as a political party, cannot comment on the merits of a case to which it has no connection.

CPM has reacted to Setalvad's arrest that she was booked on "dubious grounds" and demanded her release, the party stated that she was her "an indefatigable defender of human rights", TIE quotes.

Vijayan accused Congress of wanting to forget the Gujarat riots and the murder of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. He asked whether any of the Congress leaders went to meet the MP's wife, Zakia Jafri, to console her after Ehsan's death. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had visited Gujarat then, but not Zakia, because Congress feared that they would lose Hindu votes. Though Rahul Gandhi visited temples during the last Assembly elections., he never mentioned the riots or Zakia Jafri.

Meanwhile, Congress allege that Vijayan is backing the Sangh Parivar agenda in Kerala by turning the spotlight on Congress, which is evident from the SFI, CPI(M) student wing, attacks on Rahul Gandhi's office in Wayanad, TIE reports.