KOCHI: The Left Democratic Front government on Sunday landed in a major soup after protests erupted in Munnar with Pompilai Orumai, a collective of women employees of Munnar tea gardens, alleging that electricity minister M.M. Mani made disparaging remarks against their character in a speech at Irupathamekkar near Admialy on Saturday night. Mr Mani, meanwhile, tried to wriggle out of the imbroglio saying he expressed unconditional regret to those who were hurt by his speech. The minister’s statement came after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan disowned his remarks and CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the party will take up the issue seriously, even as doubts persisted about what Mr. Mani meant in his speech.
The minister made the reference to the Pompilai Orumai agitation while alluding to the role the media played in Munnar during the anti-encroachment drive 10 years back when V.S. Achuthanandan was the chief minister and the recent initiative by the district administration, especially sub-collector Sreeram Venkataraman. A section in the party insisted that the reference was not to the woman agitators but to the media persons. The woman protesters, however, said they would continue the agitation till the minister was removed from the ministry and he tendered an unconditional apology in person.
The collective’s leaders including Gomathi who staged the protest-sit in at the old Munnar Road were arrested and removed by the police. Gomathi, who walked out of the pro-CPM CITU two years ago, said that the minister insulted the entire women plantation workers by his remarks and should tender an apology in person. “Mr Mani has no locus standi for speaking for the workers. His remarks are an insult to the womenfolk,” she said. The BJP has called for a hartal in Idukki district from six in the morning to six in the evening in protest against the statements by Mr Mani. The minister’s statement said his speech was not communicated the way it was intended. “I respect women,” it said. “Lakhs of women are there in the organisation that I represent. I have only respect for women in public life. I have five daughters, and two of them are in public life, one being a panchayat president. It has been spread that I talked disparagingly about women, and it hurts me.”
