Zee News had the exclusive opportunity to interview Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan anHyderabad MP and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi.
First up was Mr. Vijayan, who seemed as if he wanted the interview to end as soon as possible, and kept making to leave, but was asked to stay by our reporter.
To start with, he was asked about his recurrent assertions that “Kerala is not a communal state… It has no history of communal violence.” He confirmed that he had indeed said that. Our reporter then showed him what a quick Google search would disclose – the Marad massacres (2002 and 2003, 78 CPI(M) members were among those arrested for their involvement), the Thalassery riots (1961; saw 569 violent incidents, 63 mosques and 3 temples were attacked; At the time, he was a CPI-M MLA from the nearby Koothuparamba constituency, and area secretary in Thalassery before that), and the 2009 Valiyathura riots while the LDF government headed by him was in power. He seemed to be at a loss to explain his statements in light of these revelations. Our reporter was reminded of these words
औरो के ख्यालात की लेते हैं तलाशी
और अपने गरेबान में झाँका नहीं जाता
Something which was very shocking was his inability to remember the names of the constituencies that he served in. For instance, he said he was an MLA for Panoor when asked to confirm by our reporter, even though he never has been. When pressed, he became defensive and started deflecting the questions, asking our reporter if he remembered every single article he had written, which is a completely different ball game and irrelevant to the matter at hand.
Constituencies are very different from articles, and despite our best efforts we fail to wrap our head around the honestly nonsensical analogy.
He also attempted to wipe himself of blame by claiming that he was an old man, that he is 77 years old and can’t remember things these days. This begs the exceedingly alarming question of why then, does he believe he is the right person to not only vote in the House of the People on matters of national importance but also fit to be the chief minister of an entire state and call the shots when he himself proclaims that he cannot remember basic minutiae. Experience only goes so far. What is more essential is having a mental faculty capable of working at the highest level.
Another factually incorrect statement that he made was when asked what his party had done since saying “What is urgently required is reform in various personal laws. This is an exercise that brooks no delay” back in 2003. After all, if it ‘brook[ed] no delay’, some steps should have been taken in that direction, especially given his party had been in power for all terms since but one. However, the only response the CPI(M) leader could muster was that Sitaram Yechury had brought it up in the Lower House. Moreover, he said that the UCC was a central issue (which is irrelevant, albeit true) and so the state government could not do anything about it.
This is objectively untrue because personal laws are an item in the Concurrent List, which means that both Central and State Governments have the power to legislate on it. Hence, the LDF could have introduced reforms if it so wished. One wonders why they did not, especially given their insistence that they are urgently needed. Something to ponder upon.
Talking about more recent affairs, with Opposition parties in Kerala holding protests to seek his resignation, the Chief Minister has been under fire ever since the accused in the case, Swapna Suresh, alleged he took currency out of the country with the help of a diplomat from the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016. He did not provide any substantial answers.
AIMIM chief Owaisi was asked about his statements in the House about him not already being in the UCC special committee despite “being a leader of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board,” an organization which has previously been described as a “purely religious organization… not a political one” by both the AIMPLB and Owaisi himself . In that case, how does it make sense to involve their leader in the special committee, which requires political knowledge in addition to religious expertise. More damning, however, is the fact that he is not a leader of the AIMPLB. There is zero mention of him in the list of AIMPLB leaders. When this was pointed out to him, he flat-out denied it even though he had confirmed that he said it mere seconds ago. At that point there is nothing one can do if a representative of the people is dishonest in his answers.
There is one last thing we would like to say to those who seek to hide the truth
हमसे उम्मीद मत रखना की हम कुछ और लिखेंगे,
हम Zee News हैं साहब,
जब भी लिखेंगे बेखौफ होकर लिखेंगे..!!