Pinarayi Vijayan’s double-speak on women’s security needs to be called out

CPI(M) councillor Kala Raju’s humiliation can’t be seen as an isolated case. The party promotes aggression and violence from the grassroots level, starting with university campuses in Kerala.

WCC members meet Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (image source: CMO)

George Orwell’s famous lines from Animal Farm (1945)—“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”—resonate in present-day Kerala. Here, the law seems to function differently for different classes of people. No, I am not talking about the class theory or class conflict once propagated by Marxists, but rather how a stratified system of justice is being dispensed by the state administration under Pinarayi Vijayan.

Only a fortnight ago, the Kerala chief minister—basking in the adulation of a ballad written in his honour—gave a homily in Alappuzha on gender security: “Women must feel safe in all public spaces. Any words, behaviour, or actions that compromise their safety will face stringent action, as consistently demonstrated in Kerala”.

Yet, less than a week later, a woman councillor—ironically, a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)—was allegedly manhandled and abducted in public.

Abduction of Kala Raju

On 18 January, Kala Raju reached the municipality complex in Koothattukulam to cast her vote in a confidence motion moved by the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF). In the 25-member municipality, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has just one member more than the Congress. Fearing defeat, Raju’s fellow CPI(M) members pounced on her and whisked her away in the official vehicle of the municipal chairperson—after a dramatic scuffle, in full public view, with the police on stand-by.

The extent of the ill-treatment wasn’t immediately apparent, as Raju was taken to the CPI(M) office and kept there—until she was let go after the motion was averted. The police, who stood there like mannequins as the LDF members went berserk, only ironically intervened to make safe passage for the vehicle used to ‘abduct’ the councillor. When Raju finally spoke to the media, the ordeal she narrated was blood-curdling.

According to her, the CPI(M) members not only pulled her by her hair but also grabbed her by the waist, loosening her saree to ensure that she didn’t run away. Worse still, she alleged that they tugged at the drawstrings of her underskirt, nearly stripping her.

Vijayan as the enabler

The chief minister’s response in the assembly was starkly different from the sermon he had delivered in Alappuzha. “Once defection happens, shouldn’t the person ideally resign her post? Can we encourage such mindless defection?” Vijayan retorted, effectively condoning his party members who assaulted Raju.

Aside from the fact that defections happen regularly, Vijayan was also wrong in another regard—the defection hadn’t technically unfolded yet. Raju later clarified that she had no plans to cross-vote and that her arrival with Congress members was purely incidental. Regardless of Raju’s intentions, what stood out was Vijayan’s trivialising of the incident—as though she deserved the abuse meted out to her.

This wasn’t the first time Vijayan justified the strong-arm tactics of his workers. During the Nava Kerala Sadas travelling circus, Vijayan famously referred to the hooliganism of his cadres as a “life-saving” act.

Some women are more equal

Contrast this with how the state swings into action in other cases. Earlier this month, actor Honey Rose filed a complaint against industrialist Boby Chemmanur, accusing him of making sexually-coloured remarks and enabling online harassment against her. The police acted quickly, arresting Chemmanur within 48 hours and pressing non-bailable charges to ensure his custody.

While it was tom-tommed by Vijayan’s cheerleaders as the law coming down like a ton of bricks on a prominent individual, no such courtesy was extended to Raju. Despite her being in public life for 25 years and having served CPI(M) as a branch secretary, her complaint wasn’t met with similar urgency. To rephrase Orwell, some women in Kerala seem to be more equal than others.

Though the state police arrested four CPI(M) cadres, they refrained from proceeding against more prominent leaders named in Raju’s complaint, including Koothattukulam area secretary PB Ratheesh, municipal chairperson KP Vijayakumari, vice-chairperson Sunny Kuriakose, and local secretary Febeesh George. Investigation officers admitted informally to me that they were instructed by higher-ups to delay action until the completion of the Ernakulam district party conference.

Vijayan’s legacy

If charges of “cell-rule” (an old-fashioned term for branch rule) became a blot on the legacy of some of Vijayan’s predecessors, he has instead concentrated on using the police as an extension of the party. The politicisation of the state police has been a glaring feature under Vijayan.

His double-speak on gender safety and women’s security also needs to be put in context. For a government that rode to power in 2016 on public outrage over the Perumbavoor case, Vijayan has seemingly dispensed selective justice.

Only a few months ago, the Kerala High Court pulled up the state government for its inaction on the Hema committee report. The government was running with the hares and hunting with the hounds—enabling patriarchy in the Malayalam film industry while paying lip service to the demands of the Women in Cinema Collective.

Cause and effect

What led to Kala Raju’s humiliation? It cannot be seen as an isolated case, given that the CPI(M) promotes aggression and violence from the grassroots level, starting with university campuses in Kerala.

Take the case of PM Arsho, the incumbent state secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). Dividing his time between jail and college, Arsho was accused by a Dalit student of sexual assault at the Mahatma Gandhi University in October 2021. The SFI perpetuates its domination on Kerala campuses through bullying and intimidation, often turning on its own members at the slightest hint of betrayal or indiscipline.

This culture of guerilla tactics has a clear correlation with what transpired in Koothattukulam. Such instincts and ingrained misogyny may also stem from the fact that the Marxist superstructure in Kerala was erected on a predominantly feudal base. The CPI(M)’s oft-resorted theory of the “end justifying the means” may also be to blame here.

More importantly, Vijayan’s tacit approval of such shameful acts emboldens his cadres, as the party grapples with organisational decay and anti-incumbency after nine years in power.

Anand Kochukudy is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. He tweets @AnandKochukudy. Views are personal.

(Edited by Prashant)