CM Pinarayi Vijayan, M A Baby differ on police functioning

Thiruvananthapuram: Differences have surfaced between chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and M A Baby, both politburo members of the CPM, over the style of functioning of the police. While Baby believed there were serious lapses on the part of police in dealing with Jishnu’s mother, Pinarayi stood by police. “I am not aware of any police highhandedness. Go and ask Baby,” he said while replying to questions about the politburo member’s criticism against the rough treatment meted out to Jishnu’s mother Mahija on Wednesday. Stung by the criticism, the chief minister sought to clarify his position at an election rally. He listed out the steps taken by government to ensure justice to Jishnu’s family.

The growing criticism of police within CPM and CPI seemed to have compelled Pinarayi to soften his stand towards Jishnu's family. “We can understand the pain of a mother who has lost her child. Jishnu’s family with get all care and assurance from government,” he said while seeking to draw a distinction between the family and a section of people who came to protest in front of police headquarters along with them. Baby’s criticism of police is not new. Earlier he had criticised the police on encounter killings of Maoist in Nilambur saying that that the police action was against LDF policy. About a fortnight ago CPM state committee had called for strict vigil on the functioning of police department in the wake of series of law and order issues.

While the party leaders felt that followers of UDF and BJP in police forces could not be kept away, the functioning of the police department required to be monitored closely. The secretariat members had also pointed out that some of the police officers were behaving as if the UDF was still in power. They have not come to terms with LDF police policy. Despite severe criticism, the chief minister had all along stood by the police and maintained that morale of the force cannot broken. Apart from CPM, the CPI state leadership has also been highly critical of the police. On most issues including Maoist encounter, atrocities against women and children and Jishnu case, the CPI had taken a strident position against the police.