'Inappropriate' to raise Sivagiri, Muthanga police actions in Assembly amidst other discussion: UDF

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led UDF opposition on Thursday termed as "inappropriate" the reference to the police action at Sivagiri Mutt and the Muthanga police firing incidents during the discussion in the assembly on the rise in prices of essential commodities.

CPI(M) MLA V Joy referred to the Sivagiri incident by citing a portion of the report by a judicial commission set up to look into the matter and contended that the panel stated there were political objectives behind it.

Opposing his remarks, Congress MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan raised a point of order by saying that if the ruling front was going to discuss the reports of the commissions on the Sivagiri and Muthanga incidents, then the UDF too has a lot to say on it.

"We can discuss the commissions' reports in detail. We will also express our opinion on that. But, we will not permit referring to a small portion of the report to attack A K Antony," he said and demanded the removal of Joy's remarks from the assembly records.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, V D Satheesan termed raising of the issue in the House, amidst the discussion on price rise of essential commodities, as "inappropriate" and against the rules of business.

Satheesan said if this continues, the opposition will not cooperate with the House business.

Meanwhile, state Law Minister P Rajeev said that Antony held the press conference as there was no one to defend him regarding those incidents.

Congress veteran A K Antony on Wednesday had urged the Kerala government to release the judicial commission report on the police action at Sivagiri Mutt and the CBI investigation report on the Muthanga police firing, both highly controversial incidents that took place during his tenure as chief minister.

Antony had said that he decided to call a press conference, after a long gap, as he felt there had been several "one-sided attacks" against him, citing his time as Kerala's Chief Minister.

Expressing sadness and regret over what happened at Sivagiri Mutt and in Muthanga, the former Union Defence Minister had urged the Kerala government to release both reports so that the people could know the truth.

Antony's press conference came after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recounted the police excesses during the previous UDF governments, in his reply to the discussion on police brutality in the state assembly on Tuesday.

On 11 October 1995, clashes broke out at the mutt premises when police personnel faced resistance from a large group of Swami Saswathikananda's supporters. More than 200 people were injured in the incident, which also caused extensive damage to the ashram founded by social reformer Sree Narayana Guru.

The Muthanga firing took place on February 19, 2003, when police opened fire on tribal protesters in Muthanga, Wayanad. The demonstration, led by the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), was over the Kerala government's alleged failure to hand over promised land to the tribal community.