The Congress has protested against the move to slap the Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAPA) on Farseen Majeed. He was one of the three Congress workers who staged a black flag protest against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on board a flight which landed in Thiruvananthapuram from Kannur on June 22.
KAPA authorises preventive detention of habitual offenders and externment from the district concerned for unlawful activities. District Police Chief, Kannur, R. Ilango confirmed the move. He told The Hindu that he had sent a report to DIG, Kannur Range, Rahul. R. Nair.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan reminded Mr. Vijayan "Kerala is not Stalin's Russia". He said Mr. Vijayan had promoted the lie that Farseen was a hardened criminal. Mr. Vijayan had concealed that the cases against Farseen were of a political nature.
Meanwhile, the Congress has perceived a Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] plot to stifle dissent and discredit the Opposition ahead of the Assembly session next week.
It also sensed a bid to divert attention from the "intra-party" feud that culminated in the murder of CPI(M) branch secretary Shajahan in Palakkad and the "uncomfortable questions" swirling around the mysterious country-bomb explosion outside the AKG Centre.
The party believed that the "damning accusations" by UAE gold case accused Swapna Suresh against Mr. Vijayan and his family had compelled the CPI(M) to borrow a leaf from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre's playbook on "misusing" the law enforcement to push back politically against Opposition leaders.
Mr. Satheesan and KPCC president Sudhakaran hinted that the arrests would resonate strongly in the Assembly when it convened next week.
The CPI(M) State secretariat met here on Friday. By some accounts, finalising an optimal floor strategy to blunt the Opposition anticipated foray on sensitive issues in Assembly topped the party's agenda.
The CPI(M) also wanted the government to settle the fishers’ strike in Vizhinjam to pre-empt a possible Latin Catholic Church-backed Assembly siege that it felt could advantage the Opposition.
