Speaker Shamseer’s comments trigger war of words between CPI(M), BJP

Kannur: The political sphere in Kerala has been witnessing a war of words between the Communist Party of India (Marxist)– CPI(M) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ever since Assembly Speaker AN Shamseer made a controversial remark at a school in Ernakulam.

Speaker A.N. Shamseer’s remarks came while speaking at a function at the Kunnathunadu GHSS in Ernakulam district on July 21. He was referring to a claim made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 that plastic surgery was invented in India, citing the instance of the Hindu deity Ganapathy, who is an elephant-headed deity on a human body.

“Who invented the aeroplane? When I studied, it was the Wright brothers. Now it is not. In the age of Hindutva, it is said to be the pushpaka vimanam. … Science is being replaced with myths. Textbooks promote myths instead of science. That is why answering the question about the invention of the aeroplane with ‘Wright brothers' becomes wrong”, he further said.

The alleged 'anti-Hindu' comments irked the BJP which led to a heated exchange between the parties.

The BJP had filed a police complaint against Shamseer on July 24 for allegedly hurting Hindu religious sentiments. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) also marked their protest over the Speaker’s comment.

The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers staged a belligerent march to Mr. Shamseer’s office in Thalassery.

During the march, BJYM general secretary K Ganesh said, “Shamseer must be confident that he will not lose his hand like Prof Joseph did.”

Ganesh was referring to the hand chopping incident of T J Joseph, then a professor at Newman College in Idukki’s Thodupuzha, by Popular Front of India (PFI) activists.

Responding to the threat, senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan said that Yuva Morcha leaders would find themselves in the mortuary if they dared to harm Shamseer.

Jayarajan was speaking at an event against the Manipur violence organised in Thalassery.

The BJYM responded by filing a police complaint against the “death threat”, calling for Jayarajan’s arrest and claiming that his remarks were capable of “inciting political turmoil in Kannur.”

BJP state president K Surendran also came out against Jayarajan’s statement, reiterating the argument that the CPI(M) leader’s remarks amounted to death threats and that the BJP will respond to it with mass protests.

Meanwhile, Jayarajan issued a clarification, saying, “The Yuva Morcha threatened Shamseer with an experience similar to that of Prof Joseph. They compared themselves to the Popular Front terrorists who took revenge. I replied befittingly.”

“Shamseer criticised those unscientific teachings in a public programme for children and presented a scientific point of view. No believer will feel hurt by it. Malayalis are capable of distinguishing between faith and the exploitations in the name of faith”, Jayarajan said defending Shamseer.

After P Jayarajan’s mortuary remark sparked controversy, convener of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) EP Jayarajan came out in support of the CPI(M) leader. EP Jayarajan said that P Jayarajan used the word mortuary because it rhymes with Morcha. “It was only a figure of speech,” he said.

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