A messy business

The government decision to revoke the murder attempt case on a police officer, by the RSS and ABVP activists during a student clash at the Mahatma Gandhi College in Thiruvananthapuram, has raised a few eyebrows.

The case number CP 81/12 was filed in the Thiruvananthapuram Judicial First Class Magistrate Court II against an RSS activist Adarsh T Nair, who reportedly hurled a bomb at the Museum Circle Inspector, Mohanan Nair during the attack in 2005. The officer had come to the college to control the campus violence and sustained serious injuries. He was hospitalized for more than a year. The police had seized a huge collection of weapons from inside the campus. The murder attempt case was registered in 2005 against 32 RSS workers at the Peroorkada police station and one of the accused filed a plea on 05/09/2012. The government, after considering the plea of the accused, informed the Court of its decision to withdraw the case. The government decision came in December 2012 after the police had submitted the charge sheet and the trial was about to begin. The police department had objected to the move when its opinion was sought on the petition on the ground that such a move would break the morale of the police force. Mohan Nair was under huge pressure but finally succumbed to the government decision.

The letter sent by the Under Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, S Chander Lal to the District Collector on 27/12/2012 has recently been surfaced triggering the controversy. The latest decision of the Congress led government has paved way to the allegations by the CPI-M of close nexus between the Congress and the Sangh Parivar. The Home Minister, Ramesh Chennithala had said that he had no role in the decision. The then Home Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, also evaded the questions refusing to comment on the issue. With the people responsible for bring out the truth providing nothing less than evasive replies, questions as to who dispatched the orders for revoking the case, remains unanswered.

The Mahatma Gandhi College in the capital city is a hub of all Sangh Parivar activities. The government has not been able to do much to bring the situation under control. The police force that came with the purpose of maintaining law and order inside the campus premises have met with the same fate as above. The accused in the cases involving the RSS people as victims are charged with the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and the cases with the activists as the accused are revoked. The fact that the government has made a move to protect the criminals involved in murder attempt of a senior police officer is despicable. It would only destroy the confidence and the enthusiasm of the police force as a whole and also encourage the criminal minded party activists.