The investigation into the stabbing of a Muslim League worker in Malappuram’s Pandikkad has taken a sharp turn with various outfits alleging CPM’s part in the crime. The stabbing of 26-year-old Muhammed Sameer has garnered attention across the district and state, and the police have currently taken into custody three people associated with the incident — Nisam, Abdul Majeed, and Moieen.
The event happened on Wednesday night when two families began arguing over some matter, which led to a fight, says Pandikkad police. Sameer received stab wounds as he was trying to stop the assailants from attacking Ummer, who is another League member. Even though people had brought Sameer to a hospital in Perinthalmanna, he succumbed to his wounds by three in the morning.
While the CPM area committee is claiming that the incident was a result of a fight between two families, police and opposition, however, have a different claim. The CPM and the League have been conflicting with each other ever since the local polls closed, and the Congress is accusing that the CPM murdered the IUML member out of political vengeance. However, the police opine that the political struggle developed into a family issue.
Malappuram SP U Abdul Kareem says, “The political conflict between the two parties had turned into family issues, and the police had on multiple times tried to mediate the two factions.” On the other hand, Sameer’s family told the media that it is a political murder, as he had been receiving death threats for a while. They added that they had also filed a complaint with the police in regards to that. IUML MLA P Abdul Hameed claimed that it was a planned murder.
On January 19, several CPM workers, at a rally, threatened to kill IUML and Congress members, while reiterating that they have already done it before. This was at an event organised to welcome the CPM activists who were arrested for violence during the local body polls. They shouted that they would “kill IUML members and drape their bodies with a green cover”.
However, senior party members denied responsibility, claiming that these were the actions of several youngsters “celebrating the release of their friends”. They added that not even the local area secretary was aware of the issue. Meanwhile, Congress and Muslim League members have told media that such processions usually lead to violence in the district, mostly by the red party. However, regardless of the scale of the issue, the police are yet to take any action against the perpetrators.
LDF convenor and CPM acting state president A Vijayaraghavan had alleged that the Congress and UDF are relying “more on religious-political powers just to weaken the LDF”. “The UDF is facing a dearth of political direction, and their alliance with religious political parties is a challenge to the secular nature of Kerala,” he added. On that matter, Ramesh Chennithala alleged that the CPM and Pinarayi Vijayan are trying to create a communal gap using IUML and Congress.
