Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has said that the Kerala government must atone by asking the Centre to enforce the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Malappuram district. “The recent bomb blast in Malappuram was a dress rehearsal for Islamic State. Malappuram district is the original sin of the CPI(M). The district administration should be handed over to the Army,” Swamy said to THE WEEK.
On November 1, a low-intensity bomb blast went off on civil station premises in Malappuram town in north Kerala. The police said that ammonium nitrate and pressure cooker were suspected to have been used for the blast. They recovered a paper box containing a notice, in the name of ‘Base Movement’, which warned about more attacks and about avenging the killing of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, for consuming beef. The National Investigation Agency would coordinate with the state police in the investigation.
Swamy said a secular, democratic government should take special measures to ensure the integrity of the Constitution and safety of the people. “I urge Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh therefore to take a call on the situation in Malappuram,” said Swamy.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a special investigation team, headed by a deputy superintendent of police, would probe the blast. BJP legislator O. Rajagopal said the government was not viewing the matter with due seriousness. He walked out of the assembly on November 2 after he was not allowed an adjournment motion seeking discussion on the bomb blast.
Former minister and Muslim League leader M.K. Muneer said Swamy was talking rubbish. “But there should be a clear line drawn between the moderates and the fundamentalists. We welcome any investigation into the bomb blasts. The guilty should not be spared,” he said to THE WEEK.
Muneer said great people like Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan and E.M.S. Namboodiripad were born in Malappuram. “Fascist forces want Malappuram to be another Kashmir. We will not allow that to happen,” said Muneer.
