Thiruvananthapuram: After his meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on September 4, the impression that could be gathered was that Nilambur MLA P V Anvar would stay silent till the five-member investigation team constituted to probe the allegations against senior police officials submitted its report.
However a day later, right after Anvar met CPM state secretary M V Govindan at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, the Nilambur MLA's tone has changed. He has thrown a moral challenge at the Chief Minister who had stuffed the team with officers junior to ADGP (Law & Order) M R Ajithkumar, the officer under investigation. State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who heads the team, is the only officer in the team who is senior to Ajithkumar.
"What have you thought of this party (CPM). This is a party with dignity. This is a government with dignity. This is a CM with dignity. It is to them that I have submitted my petition," Anvar said after meeting the CPM state secretary.
Since an unfair move has already been made—the creation of a seemingly ineffective probe team—this is clearly not a remark to be taken literally. Anvar is, in fact, taunting the CM and the party; he is challenging them to rise to the occasion.
His statement is Shakespearean in its cunningness. What Anvar actually meant was this: If you people (the CPM, the CM and his government) have some remnants of dignity left, is this the way you constitute a team to probe grave charges of misconduct?
If it is still not clear what the MLA had in mind, Anvar makes himself transparent by his next sentence. "I will give you an example," he said. "If a complaint is made against a headmaster, will you ask a teacher who works under him or the peon or guy who rings the school bell to conduct the probe and submit the report? Do you think that such a thing is even possible," he said.
It is as if he finds it hard to believe that such a team of juniors has been formed. By feigning disbelief, Anvar was, in reality, ridiculing the decision.
Reporters pressed him further. How do you think a fair probe could be conducted when the team has officers who report to the man whose alleged crimes they are supposed to investigate? "I too have the same question," he said. "What you say is true. Eventually, it is to the same headmaster (ADGP) that these people (junior officers in the team) will have to go in future. So, will such a thing ever happen?" Anvar said.
Once again the utter disbelief. With as much subtlety he can command, Anvar is saying that the constitution of such a probe team was nothing short of outrageous.
Then, through scattered remarks, Anvar offered hints that he has reason to believe that the government would be forced to reconstitute the team. "This anyway will have to be resolved," he said. After a time, he said: "What I have conveyed is the sentiment of lakhs of party workers. Can their wishes be simply brushed aside? I don't think so."
Further: "See, I have only begun. Revolution is not made in a single day. It happens when it gathers into a mass movement. This will soon develop into a revolution against the lobby that is intent on destroying this LDF government."
Later, to a question whether the government is afraid of the ADGP, he said: "We are only reaching the stage where action would have to be taken against these people (Ajithkumar and SP Sujith Das). There is a procedure for all this. It'll take some time."
Some of Anvar's comments also hinted that the party was trying to mollify him by trying to rationalise some of the government decisions. The MLA was clearly trotting out the government/party's excuse for not suspending Sujith Das. "Imagine Sujith Das was suspended. What if he secures a stay from the High Court? We have had many such instances," Anvar said.
But Anvar finds the government's approach to Ajithkumar unacceptable. "Will a government and a party with great social commitment take such a decision," he said. "It perhaps will take some time. We will wait and see," he said.
If the government persists with the team, Anvar warns that he will be relentlessly after it. "Let us see the direction this probe is taking. If anyone in the team conducts the probe in a manner subservient to him (Ajithkumar), they will be held accountable. If they are not honest in their work, I will be in the forefront to question them. If anyone in this team is under the impression that they can whitewash him (the ADGP) by doing a bogus investigation, I will bring it to the public. I will raise questions publicly," he said.
For the moment, it looks like the CM has guarded his favourite cop from Anvar's battery of charges. But instead of making him look strong, the decision to form a seemingly sterile investigation team has only weakened the CM's public image as an authoritative no-nonsense leader.
