Even as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership has taken great pains to distance itself from the murders of Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sharat Lal at Kallyot in Kasaragod on February 17, the party continues to be on the defensive, the latest embarrassment being the release of a video that shows a party district committee member making open threats against Congress workers at Kallyot at a public function on January 7.
The video of V.P.P. Musthafa making threats will provide a shot in the arm for the Congress that has rejected the CPI(M) stance that it has no role in the twin murders.
In his address two days after the assault on the then CPI(M) Periye local committee member A. Peethambaran by a group of Youth Congress workers, including Sarath Lal, Mr. Musthafa threatens that if the Congress leaders in the area go too far the CPI(M) will launch like a rocket and blow the Congress workers to smithereens, rendering their bodies unfit for being placed on funeral pyres.
CPI(M) leader K. Kunhiraman, MLA, told a television channel on Thursday that Peethambaran had personal grudge towards the two slain youths in connection with the attack on him on January 5. There was no political situation in the area that should lead to the murders as the prevailing issues had been solved.
This explanation falls apart in the wake of the disclosure of Mr. Musthafa’s speech.
His outburst is an indication that the situation at Kallyot was far from normal and far more serious than the ‘personal grudge’ of Peethambaran.
