The Left government in Kerala is dragging its feet in the bishop case because it wants to keep its Christian vote share intact by letting the bishop off the hook.
A The delay in looking into the allegations of sexual harassment against a party MLA and dithering over the arrest of a bishop accused of raping a nun multiple times have put the ruling CPM in Kerala in a bind. It took more than a fortnight for the CPM to even admit it was in receipt of a complaint from a woman member of party wing, Democratic Youth Federation of India, against its legislator P.K. Sasi, representing Shoranur in Palakkad district. It was in June that a 46-year-old nun had complained that Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulackal had raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016 during his visits to the state. A case was filed and a police team was sent to Punjab to interrogate and arrest the bishop. The team went to Punjab, had a good look at the bishop’s house in Jalandhar, supposedly questioning the bishop once, and came back saying it had to collect “more evidence”. This was perhaps the first time that an investigation team sought an appointment with the accused to question him. But even after 82 days, no action has been taken against the accused, forcing a section of the nuns to stage a public protest, perhaps for the first time in the country. Now the Kerala police claim that the bishop would reach Kerala on Sunday for questioning. Latest reports claim that the bishop has handed over his charge to two others because he is leaving for Kerala. But whether the bishop finally makes an appearance or not, the delay in providing justice to the nun is considered a huge embarrassment for the Left Front government. Observers point out that when even BJP-led state governments had dared to put behind bars self-styled godmen such as Asaram Bapu in Gujarat and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in Haryana on charges of rape and murder, the LDF is dragging its feet solely to keep its Christian vote share intact and let the bishop off the hook.
The Left Front led by the CPM had come to power promising fair deal to women, especially in cases of sexual abuse. However, political compulsions have forced the CPM to backtrack on its promise, at least in the two cases pending before the party and the government. It is an open secret that no political party in Kerala will raise even a little finger against the Church, which wields considerable influence over the vote bank and possesses huge money power. CPM and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are no exception. So it is not surprising that while Vijayan, who is currently in the US for treatment, found time to comment on the party MLA’s affair, he has not said a word so far about the nuns’ protest and the police inaction. “The victim was called for questioning several times but the bishop was questioned only once. We believe there is a conspiracy to overturn the case in his favour,” fears Sister Anupama, who is spearheading the nuns’ protest. In the recent byelection in Chengannur, CPM fielded a Christian candidate and got the full support of the Church, which shifted its age-old loyalty to the Congress. Many feel that there is a growing nexus between the Church and the party in the state. Hence no CPM leader has come out in support of the nun, the only exception being veteran V.S. Achuthanandan, who in any way is at loggerheads with the official leadership. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakirshnan’s denial of any interference with the investigation is taken only at face value. A deluge of different sort, public anger, is awaiting the party.
In the case of party MLA Sasi, the CPM has decided to deal with it politically by setting up a two-member panel to probe the charges, saying there was no need to hand it over to the police since the complaint was given to the party. This is seen as an obvious move to shield the MLA. The two members probing the incident, Minister A.K. Balan and MP from Kannur P.K. Sreemathy, are known members of the Pinarayi group in the party. Questions have also been raised regarding the constitutionality of Balan, as the Law Minister in the Cabinet, being part of the panel, let alone the ethics of it. There are indications that it was a rival group which encouraged the woman to write to the general secretary since they knew that the state leadership would try to cover up the incident. Sasi himself had made this clear when he said that certain “forces were out to destroy me politically”. As was expected by the rival faction in Palakkad CPM, the state leadership sat over the complaint till Sitaram Yechury made it public, following which state party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan announced the setting up of the committee. Still it took another three days, and after veteran V.S. Achuthanandan called for stern action against the MLA, for Sasi to be debarred from party functions. Achuthanandan represents Malampuzha in Palakkad district and a section of the party there still pledges allegiance to him. Sasi was presiding over district committee meetings, where the charges “did not come up for discussion” for obvious reasons, even after the probe panel was set up. Other than Achuthanandan, only M.A. Baby, politburo member of the party, has reacted to the charges. Baby, known to be neutral within the party, in a Facebook post has noted that CPM would not allow anyone who attacked women to hold any position in the party. No one from the DYFI has reacted openly. But as one admitted candidly, “Had it been a Congress MLA, we would have taken to the streets.” At least the people of Kerala should be grateful to CPM for that.