CM Pinarayi condemns KSU attack on Veena George; CPI(M), LDF, SFI call for Statewide protests

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condemned the attack allegedly by the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) on Health Minister Veena George in Kannur on Wednesday afternoon. 

Ms. George appeared to have sustained significant injury in the attack, including contusions on her neck and hands. She is currently receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit at the Kannur District Hospital. Mr. Vijayan called on her at the hospital. 

The Chief Minister’s Office said the incident occurred when KSU activists staged a protest against the Minister as she arrived at the Kannur Railway Station to board a Vande Bharat train to Thiruvananthapuram. Speaker A.N. Shamseer was present when the KSU’s protest erupted, seemingly catching the leaders and the police unawares. 

Mr. Vijayan termed the incident a “heinous attack” on a woman holding public office. The incident reflected the inherent villainy in the Congress leadership. “The Congress unleashed a band of assailants against the Minister. It has violated all norms of democratic protest and resorted to mob violence,” he said. 

Mr. Vijayan said Kerala’s public health system was storied and had emerged as the best in the country, as per surveys and audits conducted by various national and international agencies, including the NITI Aayog. He said the Congress’s violence against Ms. George would not besmirch or obfuscate the government’s stellar track record in public health care and medical service delivery. 

Mr. Vijayan put the onus of the attack on Congress and United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership. He cautioned the opposition against fostering violence by waylaying public figures, chiefly women. He cautioned the UDF against creating a law-and-order issue in the State. 

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary, M.V. Govindan, blamed the attack squarely on Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan. He urged the CPI(M) to protest the trespass on the Minister across the State. 

Oommen Chandy incident from 2013

When journalists pointed out that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had sustained a head injury during stone pelting by CPI(M) workers (in Kannur in 2013), Mr. Govindan stated: “Ms Chandy was not a woman”. 

CPI(M) State committee member and General Education Minister V. Sivankutty blamed Mr. Satheesan for singling out Ms. George for violence. He said Congress workers had stormed her official residence in Thiruvananthapuram last week and placed a wreath at her doorstep. 

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has called for a State-wide protest against the “KSU attack”. 

Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor T.P. Ramakrishnan asked Mr. Satheesan and UDF deputy leader P.K. Kunhalikutty, of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), to make the Opposition’s stance clear on the attack. 

Following the attack, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan visited the hospital and met the Minister. Other leaders P. Jayarajan, M. Vijin, MLA, and other leaders were also present.

CPI(M) district secretary K.K. Ragesh who visited the Health Minister at the hospital told the media that she sustained serious injuries on the neck in the attack.

He claimed that the attack was a continuation of an earlier move to endanger the Minister in the backdrop of the incident at her official residence in the capital.

Describing it as a brutal, ruthless and premeditated assault, Mr. Ragesh called for a strong protest against the incident. He also demanded a reply from the Opposition leader V.D Satheesan.