Bad Chapter: The amendment brought nationwide negative publicity for the Pinarayi Vijayan government | Dhanesh Asokan
AS THE CONTROVERSIAL amendment to the Kerala Police Act was creating headlines nationwide for all the wrong reasons, one of the most circulated memes showed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan looking into a mirror and seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi staring back at him. The meme was shared by thousands, including ardent left supporters. And, that was something unusual.
No wonder, the LDF government took a U-turn within 24 hours of it coming up with the ordinance that mandated a jail term for any offensive social media post. Explaining this turnaround, the chief minister said: “The amendment evoked varied responses from several corners. Apprehensions were aired even by those who support the LDF and profess to defend democracy. In these circumstances, the government will not go ahead with implementing the amendment.”
He, however, defended the legislation, saying that it was brought in to check “malicious campaigns” on social media. He added that the fate of the ordinance will be decided after hearing opinions from all quarters, including a “detailed discussion” in the assembly.
It was on October 21 that the Kerala cabinet decided to amend the Police Act and incorporate Section 118(A) to curb social media abuse. The amendment was aimed at stop those who “produce, publish or disseminate content through any means of communication to intimidate, insult or defame any person through social media”. The punishment: imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to Rs10,000, or both. While the Congress slammed the move, the BJP complained to the governor. The state government finally brought another ordinance on November 24 to repeal the initial one—a rare practice.
What prompted, or rather forced, the chief minister to go back on his decision—another rare event, considering his firm stance—was the fact that left sympathisers were leading the protests. Add to that the nationwide negative publicity for a government that is considered to be progressive.
Eyebrows were raised at the timing of the amendment, too, as the LDF government is facing a series of allegations. The chief minister’s former principal secretary has been in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody for the last one month. Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of former CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, is also in ED custody in a money laundering case.
“Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had tried to introduce the controversial Defamation Bill when the Bofors allegations came up. The left was at the forefront of the agitation against it then,” said left intellectual T.K. Vinodan. “The amendment that the Kerala government tried to bring was a way too similar to that, if not more Draconian. This was not expected of a left government.”
Apart from the public anger, what prompted Vijayan, according to sources, is the protest within the party. The party’s Polit Bureau, of which the chief minister is also a member, had incidentally resolved to oppose the Centre’s notification to bring digital media within the ambit of the information and broadcasting ministry—barely 10 days ahead of this amendment. Sensing that the party is in a spot nationally, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had openly said that the state government has been asked to reconsider its decision. CPI General Secretary D. Raja, too, was “uncomfortable” with the ordinance and the party had expressed its opinion to the state leadership.
Similar sentiments were raised within the CPI(M) state unit, too. “Many leaders pointed out to the chief minister what was wrong with the amendment in party forums after the controversy broke out. The chief minister was very receptive to what we said,” said a young state committee member.
He was anxious whether the chief minister would go ahead unilaterally as he did in the Sabarimala case, where he was determined to implement the Supreme Court verdict allowing the entry of women into the shrine. “His position was progressive and legally correct on the Sabarimala issue. However, that was wide off the mark from ground realities as the Lok Sabha results showed. Like that, a law to protect common men and women from cyberbullying is much-needed. But this is not the way to implement that,” he said.
As Vijayan firmly holds the reins of both the party and the government, this swift “course correction” was unexpected. “The recent attacks against the party and the government by the BJP government using various Central agencies had only made him stronger within the party, as nobody other than him would be able to withstand the onslaught from all fronts. So, when he readily agreed to go back on the amendment after the discussions, we were positively surprised,” said another left leader.
According to officials in the know, the amendment was brought in without proper vetting. “There is no doubt that the said amendment was a bad decision,” said a senior official in the state law department. According to him, the most “foolish” aspect of the amendment was that the police could register cases against anybody suo motu even without a complaint. “This would give unrestrained power to the police and would lead to police raj,” he said. “It is unbelievable that the chief minister, who himself has been at the receiving end of police brutality during the Emergency, did not foresee this.”