Kozhikode: The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the ruling CPM, tried to downplay the involvement of its Vadakara Block Committee president Ribesh RS in the 'kafir screenshot' case, claiming he is a witness, not a suspect.
However, the prosecution – striving to close a writ petition that put the spotlight on the police investigation – once again placed Ribesh at the centre of the case. On Wednesday, Vadakara police submitted the case diaries of the two FIRs registered in the kafir screenshot matter before the High Court of Kerala as directed by the bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas.
Additional public prosecutor P Narayanan told the court that the investigation was on the right track and had reached Ribesh, one of the earliest persons to post the communal screenshot in a pro-CPM WhatsApp group called 'Red Encounter'. He then appealed to the court to close the writ petition filed by Muslim Student Federation (MSF) leader Muhammad Khasim PK seeking a fair investigation into the case. The screenshot was spread in his name.
The court then turned to Khasim's counsel Adv Muhammed Shah and asked how could he say that the investigation was not proceeding properly when the investigating officer on June 10 told the High Court that there was no prima facie evidence against him.
Adv Shah told the court that Khasim was a victim in the case but the police have not yet invoked Sections 153 - A, 465 and 469 of IPC though his complaint had specific allegations of promoting enmity between religious grounds, forgery and forgery to harm reputation. People were still sharing the screenshot in his name on Facebook, Adv Shah told the court. The bench adjourned the case for a detailed hearing to August 29.
The communal screenshot, suspected to be fabricated, hit social media and messaging apps in Vadakara on the eve of the Lok Sabha election on April 25. It called CPM leader and LDF candidate KK Shailaja an infidel (kafir) and sought votes for Congress candidate Shafi Parambil in the name of his religion. Pro-CPM Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups widely shared it, accusing the Congress and the IUML of resorting to a communal campaign to win an election. Khasim immediately approached the police seeking action for misusing his identity to create hostility in the community.
The UDF vowed to get to the bottom of the screenshot. When the police investigation did not make any concrete progress even after a month, Khasim approached the High Court seeking a fair investigation on May 31.
DYFI's whataboutery and UDF's street protest
The revelation by police last week that their investigation has led to the phones of CPM supporters and leaders such as Ribesh has put the party on the defensive. Shailaja, a CPM central committee member and MLA from Mattannur, said it was not proper of KK Lathika, a party state committee member, to share the screenshot on her Facebook. Lathika, a former MLA from Kuttiadi and wife of CPM's Kozhikode district secretary P Mohanan, posted the screenshot and took a dig at the UDF for their communal campaign. Despite the UDF distancing itself from the message and Khasim saying it was fabricated, Lathika did not remove the post for more than a month.
What Lathika did was wrong, Shailaja said on August 14, a day after the police named Ribesh, a CPM local committee member and DYFI Kozhikode district committee member, in its report submitted before the high court.
DYFI Kozhikode district secretary PC Shaiju resorted to whataboutery and rhetoric to defend Ribesh in an explanatory meeting held on August 18. He said IUML state secretary Parakkal Abdulla was running a fake campaign to falsely portray Ribesh as the one who fabricated and spread the communal screenshot, even though the police report stated he had only 'forwarded' it to the WhatsApp group 'Red Encounter'. "What did the police say? Ribesh, who is an admin of a group, forwarded the kafir screenshot. We admit that Ribesh forwarded it to the group. Why did he forward the screenshot? He, as a responsible DYFI activist, forwarded it to remind society that attempts are being made to divide society into communal lines," said Shaiju.
"He posted it with good intentions. But it is now being misinterpreted," the DYFI leader said and added that Ribesh was the witness no. 22 in the case and not a suspect.
The police in its report did not say Ribesh 'forwarded' the screenshot. "On verification of his mobile phone, it is revealed that the communal post was posted by him in the WhatsApp group of 'Red Encounters' on April 25, 2024, at 2.13 pm. On interrogation, Ribesh could not reveal from where he had obtained the communal post,'' the police said in its report. Police also seized Ribesh's phone and sent it to the District Forensic Science Laboratory, Kozhikode through the Vadakara Judicial First Class Court to examine whether he created the screenshot; and if he had not, to find where he downloaded it from, the report said.
DYFI also has an "explanation" for why Ribesh did not tell police where he got the screenshot from. Shaiju told the party followers that as leaders of DYFI, they get thousands of photos in a day from numbers they have not saved. "If you are asked where you got a photo after two or three months, will you be able to say? Humans cannot. That's why Ribesh gave up his phone to conduct a scientific inquiry," said Shaiju.
The authenticity of the screenshot was questioned by the UDF and Khasim the same evening it was posted.
Maneesh, one of the admins of the pro-CPM page 'Ambadimukk Sakhakkal - Kannur,' where Khasim first saw the screenshot, told investigators that he deleted the post within an hour of posting it because he grew "suspicious of the authenticity of the post", said the police report. Maneesh told the police on June 29 -- 64 days after he posted the screenshot -- that he got the communal post from a WhatsApp group called 'Red Battalion'. Police found that the communal screenshot was posted in Red Battalion by one Amal Ram.
Police recorded the statement of Amal Ram on June 30, 65 days after he posted the screenshot, and he could vividly recall that he got the screenshot when Ribesh posted it in Red Encounters. But when police questioned Ribesh on the source of the screenshot, he "could not reveal from where he obtained the communal post".
In the explanatory meet, the DYFI took refuge in whataboutery. During the election campaign, Shaiju said, the police registered 17 cases against UDF leaders based on the complaints filed by the LDF. Congress and IUML leaders were booked and arrested, too. "Look at the history of who has used religion for political gains," he said. "The first person that comes to mind is (IUML leader and former MLA) KM Shaji," said the Kozhikode DYFI district secretary.
Then came the rhetoric. "Conduct an inquiry by any agency on the face of the earth or under the sky. We don't have to be afraid of anybody. If needed, you subject him to a lie detector test. We are ready. DYFI is not an organisation that will use religion for political gains," he said. The Vadakara Block Committee went one step further and announced a cash reward of Rs 25 lakh to anyone who can "scientifically prove" the committee's president, Ribesh, is guilty of fabricating the screenshot. The Youth Congress immediately hit back saying it would give Rs 25 lakh to Ribesh if he revealed who was behind the screenshot.
Unlike the Left camp, the UDF is on the offensive, taking out a protest march to the office of the Kozhikode Rural Police Chief demanding pressing charges against those who shared the communal screenshot. Congress leader K Muraleedharan made an open threat and said police should take action against those who spread the purportedly fabricated screenshot. "If an effective action is not taken, the police will have to explain themselves after one year and a half," Muralidharan said, referring to the next assembly election in 2026.
