Kerala ‘bomb culture’: Uproar in assembly over recent blasts in Kannur

Bombs were also hurled at the office of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Kannur’s Payyanur on Tuesday, triggering massive uproar in the state

The Kerala assembly on Wednesday witnessed a heated discussion when the Congress-led opposition raised the case of recurring bomb explosions in north Kerala’s Kannur district, one of which claimed the lives of two Assamese workers on July 7.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the state assembly. (ANI File Photo)

Bombs were also hurled at the office of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Payyanur on Tuesday, triggering massive uproar in the state.

Raising the issue through an adjournment motion, Congress member Sunny Joseph said that in villages, bomb-making is a ‘cottage industry’ and leaders of the ruling CPI(M), and the RSS, shield the accused. He alleged that the police also fail to take effective measures to contain the “bomb culture”. Besides rival party workers, many innocent people also become victims in such accidental blasts, he said.

Last week, two migrant workers from Assam were killed in a bomb explosion in the district. Both, Fazal Khan (52) and his son Shahidul (22), died when a powerful bomb went off from their rented house while they were segregating waste collected from the area. A senior police officer said the blast was triggered when they were trying to open a steel tiffin box that was allegedly stuffed with explosives.

Joseph said bombs were hurled at a house which was 150 metres away from the chief minister’s house in Pinarayi village in April, but the police failed to arrest the accused. The Congress lawmaker alleged that many RSS and CPI(M) workers were killed or maimed due to accidental blasts during the manufacturing of country-made bombs. Opposition leader VD Satheesan added in 80 per cent of these accidental blast cases, the police could not make any lead.

But replying to the motion, CM Pinarayi Vijayan said the opposition has run out of ideas, so they raise issues to give a narrative that the CPI(M) is behind these incidents. He said RSS and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the Popular Front of India, were behind most of these incidents. “The Congress never takes names of RSS and SDPI and always puts the blame on CPI(M). This shows the party’s interest and closeness towards fundamentalist forces,” the CM said.

At this point, the opposition leader asked why a single RSS worker was not arrested in a case related to bomb blast near the house of CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan a couple of years ago. “Seven of your party workers were also killed in accidental blasts while making bombs. Why have you failed to arrest culprits in these cases?” he asked.