SOUTH
Mollywood actor Joy Mathew, who is never shy of airing his strong views on matters of public concern, has lashed out at Pinarayi Vijayan government over the 'encounter' killing of two Maoist leaders inside Nilambur forests in Kerala on Thursday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has the responsibility to explain what was their (Maoists) crime to be shot, Joy Mathew quipped in a Facebook post.
The actor also shared the growing scepticism about the police version of the encounter that claimed the Maoists, including a woman, was killed in an exchange of fire on Thursday morning deep inside Nilambur Forests in Malappuram that borders Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. "I am not a Maoist. But I view the police encounter story with suspicion," he wrote.
There are numerous instances in which the truth of the police stories on encounters emerged very late. The story of Communist leader Varghese is before us, he said referring to the murder of A Varghese, popularly known as Naxal Varghese who was shot point blank by police after they captured him in Wayanad in 1970. The police claimed that he was killed in an encounter. But it took 38 years to reveal that it was a fake encounter. The real story emerged when P Ramachandran Nair, the police constable who was assigned to shoot the Communist leader confessed to the crime.
Pointing to the political murders, gangster killings and excesses of communal goons, Joy Mathew quips, where were the police when those criminal take law into their hands? The actor also posted the picture of Christ on the cross, bleeding all over, along with the post.
The Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest coalition partner of the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, also slammed the encounter and warned Pinarayi Vijayan, who is also holding the Home Portfolio, not to 'imitate Modi.' Such encounter killings, a usual practice in other states, are completely unacceptable in Kerala, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran stated.
Meanwhile, the clamour for high-level inquiry, including a judicial probe, is gathering momentum in the state amid growing suspicion that the encounter was a staged one. Even after a day into the incident, the Chief Minister has not divulged anything on the encounter.