Will again charge case against media if it does stories against SFI : Kerala secretary of CPI-M

Thiruvananthapuram, June 11 (BPNS)

The CPI-M in Kerala which is ruling the state seems to be having no remorse in charging a case against a woman journalist on a complaint by the SFI state secretary, P.M. Arsho.

CPI-M Kerala state secretary and senior leader, M.V. Govindan while speaking to media persons said that the government would again take case against the media if it files stories against the student body of the CPI-M, SFI.

It may be recalled that the Ernakulam police in Kerala have registered a case against five people including a Prof Vinod Kumar of Maharajas College, Principal of the college Dr. V.S. Joy, state president of Congress student body, KSU Alosiouis Xavier and  College unit president of KSU,CA Faisal and the Chief reporter of Asianet news Akhila Nandakumar.

The case was registered following a complaint by SFI state secretary PM Arsho that Akhila had filed a story that he has passed an examination which he had not written and was intended to defame him. As per Arsho, he had not applied for the third semester examination of the 2021-22 batch of the post graduate programme in Archeology and Material Cultural Studies and hence there was no possibility of him passing the examination.

It may be recalled that the Kerala Student Union (KSU), the pro-Congress student body had claimed that in the college website document it was mentioned that Arsho had passed the examination even though the total marks he gained was Zero.

The CPI-M and the left front have always been on a campaign for media freedom and free press and often used to describe the BJP government at the centre as anti- media and anti-free press. The action of the Kerala police against a woman journalist and the CPI-M state secretary aggressively defending the same can be construed as the CPI-Ms intolerance towards criticism.

The SFI leader Arsho is already in the dock for allegations of protecting a former SFI activist,K.Vidya for forging documents to get a posting as a guest lecturer in a government college. Even though the Kerala police have registered a case against Vidya, even after five days, there is no trace of the woman SFI leader. The Kerala police is deliberately soft-pedaling on the issue and at the same time has registered a case against a woman journalist who had just reported the version of the KSU.