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Wayanad landslides: Kerala govt slammed for gag order for scientists; CM Vijayan withdraws it later
Kerala CM said the news that SDMA had directed scientific institutions not to visit to Wayanad and not to express their opinions was misleading.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has hit out at the Pinarayi Vijayan government after the Kerala government requested the state's scientific community on Thursday to refrain from sharing their opinions and study reports on the Wayanad landslides with the media. However, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday night directed chief secretary V Venu to withdraw the controversial note issued by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).
In a statement on Thursday night, Pinarayi Vijayan said the news that the SDMA had directed scientific institutions and scientists not to visit the disaster-affected Meppadi panchayat in Wayanad and not to express their opinions was misleading.
The clarification comes even as the BJP targeted the Kerala government for the alleged gag order.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejasvi Surya alleged that “emergency & censorship come naturally to communists”.
In a post on social media platform X, Tejasvi Surya wrote, “An atrocious order has been passed by Kerala Govt restraining Science & Tech institutions from field visits as well as sharing details & reports of disaster affected areas.”
“The state govt is frightened that such activities will expose that the Wayanad Landslides is a Communist Govt-made disaster which happened from neglecting a series of early warnings from multiple agencies regarding the sensitivity of the region's landscape,” the BJP MP from Karnataka added while sharing a copy of the purported order.
Another BJP leader and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar hit out at the INDIA block over the CPM government's order.
“Everything .. I repeat .. Every single thing that INDI alliance says or does - like this official CPM govt order silencing science community - is built around hypocrisy, double standards and outright lies,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar wrote on X.
Amid criticism, Pinarayi Vijayan, in the statement, said, "The state government does not have such a policy."
"The chief secretary has been directed to immediately intervene and withdraw the communication that conveyed such a message," he said.
Scientific community strongly protests
Earlier, the scientific community had strongly protested against the note prepared by State Relief Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Tinku Biswal which directed all science and technology institutions in the state not to undertake any field visits to Meppadi Panchayat in Wayanad, where several people were killed in the devastating landslides on Tuesday.
What did the note say?
The note had said the scientific community should restrain themselves from sharing their opinions and study reports with the media. It also stated that prior permission from the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) was required to undertake any studies in the disaster-affected area.
The massive landslides struck Kerala's Wayanad district on Tuesday morning, killing at least 190 people and injuring many. With nearly 200 people missing, the death toll is expected to rise.
