CPM and its leader Pinarayi Vijayan caught off guard by the salvo by a channel interview of Karunakaran.
Introduction & the past: There wont be many Keralites who does not know about the Rajan case. It is a very famous incident during emergency. On March 1, 1976, P. Rajan, a final year student of the Calicut Engineering College, was whisked away from the hostel in the early hours along with another student, Joseph Chali. Rajan’s disappearance and his father Eachara Warrier’s legal battle to trace the killers have since been known as the Rajan case.
Rajan was brutally murdered and allegedly by the police excesses during the period. Karunakaran is particularly part of the story because he was the home minister during the period and it has been alleged that he did nothing to save Rajan.
Rajan case and atrocities committed by official machinery during that time has always been CPM and its other student, youth organizations main tool for political encounters.
The present: A TV Channel conducts an interview of Karaunakaran and is asked about Rajan case. Karunakaran and CPM does not want to be reminded of the Rajan case at this point of time because they are in a marriage of convenience (read seat adjustments) facing the imminent election .
Pinarayi is first sweet & then sour about Karunakaran: At first Pinarayi Vijayan had only sweet words about Mr. Karunakaran because they have a special relationship now. He said that it was not Karunakaran but the congress party who had been primarily responsible in the Rajan case. However he never knew what a mess he was getting into by being sweet.
He senses the mood, and the mistake in his defense of Mr. Karunakaran and faced by questions from his opposition, moves on to a new statement. This time radically opposite to his first statement. That, the leader Karunakaran cannot evade responsibility in the Rajan case, and that “the blame would be attached to him till his end”.
VS does his part : VS Achuthanandan enters the scene calling Karunakaran primarily responsible in the Rajan case. Personally, he might have never fully accepted the DIC(Karunakaran) alliance. He had been involved in an awful fight with his arch enemy Karunakaran all his political life; he probably could not suddenly change stand about Karunakaran as easily as Mr. Pinarayi.
The Opportunism & ideology: When you live a truthful life, you can live a fearless life. This is the same for individuals and politicians. If you practice what you preach you can be at peace.
However, when you make dishonest associations, while you very well know that you can never connect to that person or organization due to fundamental differences in ideology and the past wars you fought incessantly, it is better to say NO to an alliance. But for our politicians, it is always marriage of convenience. They have long forgotten their ideology.
The political fall out: People channel, the media that ignited the current political debate deserve commendation for making the political masters succumb meekly. Our top politicians inflicted self injury by taking utterly opportunistic political stands.
Now the followers of the party have been profoundly confused by the ongoing events and do not know which stand to take. In fact this is nothing for our leaders. They have thicker skin and they will come out of this current storm unscathed.
But, for you, see how foolish we (the public) continues to be.
