Ahmedabad, 27 May 2012

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today strongly protested a Communist Party of India (Marxist) senior leader’s openly declaring the party’s intention of killing political opponents in Kerala.

Quoting an Indian Express report published today, he said described the intent as a greatest challenge facing democracy in India. He said it should be strongly opposed by saviours of democracy from every nook and corner of the country.

He said the CPM leader’s language reads like that of Maoists and Naxalites inciting violence, and on top of its proudly proclaiming that party has a history of murdering political enemies and would continue to do so. It cannot be accepted in Indian democratic system. The CPM in Kerala had committed political murder of 250 workers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and no worker of Bharatiya Janata Party could ever win any election, he said.

In this context, the Gujarat Chief Minister questioned the silence and complacency of the Congress-led Central Government as well as the National Human Rights Commission and other humanitarian organizations over political murders by CPM in Kerala.

Kerala CPM’s state committee member and Idukki district secretary M M Mani in his address to a party function on Friday said the CPM would kill those who deserve to be killed.

Mani in his speech which is caught on tape boasted, “at Shanthanpara village in Idukki in 1982, the party had prepared a list of 13 persons to be killed after a CPM worker was killed. The first person on the list was shot to death. The second was stabbed to death and the third was beaten to death. By then, worried Congress workers escaped. Then home minister Vayalar Ravi was useless.’’ Mani said Congress worker Balan’s murder was in revenge for the death of local CPM leader Ayyappadas.

Mani further said, “we have a habit of killing and getting killed. So do not try to threaten the CPM. Those who work against the party would be eradicated again. The party does not have any qualms in owning up the murders it had committed,” he said. On Saturday, Mani stuck to what he had said in the public meeting. “It is true that we had killed some persons.”