8/14/2019 p govindankutty

1/2

ome | Current Affairs | Opinion | Business | Engaged Circle | Culture & Society | | Web Specials | Interact | Arc

nday, 28 January 2008 TEHELKA INITIATI

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 4, Dated Feb 02, 2008

URRENT AFFAIRS kerala crackdown

Code Red: No Dissent In Marxist Land

ctivists decry the arrest of Peoples March editor saying he was denied several fundamental rights

A SHAJIochi and Thrissur

TERNAL SECURITY has often been the cover for the State to clamp down on people withn ultra-Left background. In the latest case, the editor of a Kerala based pro-Maoist monthly,eoples March, was arrested a month ago from his office in Trikkakara near Kochi. The 68-ear-old editor, P. Govindan Kutty is on an indefinite hunger strike in judicial custody toghlight the human rights violation. But barring a few activists of the Peoples Union of Civilberties (PUCL), civil society in the highly literate state still seems to be completelynmindful. The PUCL activists have threatened to launch an agitation near the Kerala Highourt protesting against the unlawful manner in which the arrest was carried out.

he Kerala Police and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan have said that a close watch iseing kept on activists demanding the protection of Kuttys rights. They have also said theyould not allow anyone like him to run any publication that voices dissent against Staterocities. Authorities at the Central Jail in Viyyur are reported to be injecting glucose drip toutty as he is determined not to break the fast. Activists say he is often straitjacketed toect the drip. At the time of filing this report, he was being shifted to the Government

edical College in Thrissur.

ccording to PUCL state president PA Pouran, Kutty is continuing his fast alleging that evene minimum legal procedure was ignored and the basic rights of a prisoner, includingccess to a lawyer, had been denied him. When he was arrested and remanded to judicial custody in December, theuthorities insisted that he could talk to his lawyer only in the presence of jail officials.

utty, who was a government servant, had come in contact with Maoist thought while working in Andhra Pradesh about twoecades ago. He returned to Kerala five years ago and launched his small publication, which sells only a few hundredopies. The publication has never been proceeded against and meets legal requirements such as registration with theegistrar of Newspapers for India and has permission to be carried at concessional rates by the postal department.

harges against Govindan Kutty are framed under Sections 134, 124A, 133B of the Indian Penal Code and under the 1967

nlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which has never been used against a journalist. One of the main charges against Kuttythat he wrote an article some five years ago hailing the Maoist attack on the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministerhandrababu Naidu.

uman rights activists say the arrest and the consequent developments raise several disturbing questions. First of all, itxposes the palpable intolerance being shown by the police and the present government in Kerala towards any kind ofssent. The second is the scant respect for human rights and the fundamental rights of every citizen, including prisoners.he third is the selective and arbitrary manner in which the civil society in Kerala, including intellectuals and the mainstreamedia, seem to behave even on issues where fundamental rights are violated, says NP Chekkutty, noted journalist andditor of Malayalam daily Thejus.

UCLs Pouran says Kutty was arrested soon after the Andhra Pradesh Police picked up two Maoist activists, Malla Rajaeddy and Suguna, from Angamaly near Alwaye on December 17 last year. The two were living among construction

orkers from outside the state. The AP team had come in plainclothes without informing local authorities as required by law,nd was attempting to get away with the two until the local people stopped their vehicle. It was only then that the AP Policegreed to produce the two in a court and get a transit warrant.

uch secret raids seem to have become a routine affair. In June 2007, another Maoist, Raja Mouli, was forcibly taken by aoup of AP policemen from the Kollam railway station. He was not produced in any court and his body was recovered two

ays later in Andhra Pradesh.

Indi

for

In

'WBy

BC

resof

ch

Tehelka is one of the best sources of news in India The Guardian Our future is involved with the success of Tehelka. It must win the battle. Khushwant Singh

Page 1 of 2helka:: Free. Fair. Fearless

1/28/2008p://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=Ne020208code_red.asp

8/14/2019 p govindankutty

2/2

HE KERALA Police, which raided the offices of Govindan Kutty alleging he was helping Malla Raja Reddy find shelter inerala, still maintain that he is a man of terror. But they could not find any evidence to link him to Reddy and hence theecision to charge him for an article written five years ago. It is also said the police manipulated the mainstream Malayalamedia to demonise Kutty. The stories about his personal life were carried without his version. Only a handful of mediaouses took his version of the story, thereby highlighting the polices blatantly false claims.

hile opposing his bail application in the Kerala High Court, the police said Govindan Kutty was providing ideologicalacking to Maoists of different streams for the last fiveears and his release would help Naxalism grow in Kerala. But the home department has no answers as to why theyowed him to engage in such activities for the past five years

nd what prompted his arrest in December.

We are not against taking proper legal action against him if he is guilty. But throwing basic human rights to the wind in theame of Naxal raids is not justified, said Pouran.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 4, Dated Feb 02, 2008

Print this story Feedback Add to favorites Email this story

About Us | Whos Who@Tehelka | Advertise With Us | Print Subscriptions | Syndication | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Fee

Tehelka.com is a part of Agni Media Pvt. Ltd. 2000 - 2008 All rights reserved

Page 2 of 2helka:: Free. Fair. Fearless

1/28/2008p://www.tehelka.com/story main37.asp?filename=Ne020208code red.asp