The Congress on Thursday sought to cast the dawn arrest and subsequent incarceration of State Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkootathil on Tuesday as the latest example of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s contempt for the Opposition and intolerance to democratic dissent.
Even as a district court here in Thiruvananthapuram deferred the hearing on Mr. Mamkootathil’s bail plea, Congress and CPI(M) forcefully disagreed over whether the YC leader had furnished a fabricated medical examination report to dodge judicial remand.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan provoked the war of words by stating that the court found no merit in Mr. Mamkootathil’s claim that he was not healthy enough to endure judicial remand. He said the magistrate ordered a medical examination by a team of government doctors who submitted that Mr. Mamkootathil was healthy and suffered no serious ailment. The court subsequently remanded him in judicial custody till January 22.
Mr. Govindan alleged that Mr. Mamkootathil’s action contrasted with his earlier statement that he would not “develop chest pain” during the time of the arrest.
The CPI(M) had interpreted the averment as an oblique jeer at party leader P. Jayarajan who sought release on bail on medical grounds in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case. “Leaders should have the courage of conviction to face arrest and imprisonment for the causes they espouse”, Mr. Govindan said.
Meanwhile, social media posts by KPCC vice-president V. T. Balaram showing him holidaying with friends at a hill resort fed pro-CPI(M) trollers who lampooned the Congress.
Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan sought to push back the CPI(M) criticism. He challenged Mr. Govindan to furnish proof that Mr. Mamkootathil had faked the medical report issued by a prominent super speciality hospital.
Mr. Satheesan alleged that the government pressured the resident medical officer (RMO) at General Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, to certify that Mr. Mamkootathil was healthy.
“The RMO merely checked Mr. Mamkootathil’s blood pressure and deemed he was alright. Mr. Mamkootathil had sustained a head injury in the police action on December 20. The doctors advised him to rest. The party had planned to take him to Bangalore for further treatment when the arrest occurred”, Mr. Satheesan said.
