Case against Asianet News Reporter: CPI-M's hypocrisy and lies exposed, says MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday lashed out at the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala for lodging an FIR against Asianet News Chief Reporter Akhila Nandakumar who was reporting on the mark list controversy in Maharaja's College. 

Speaking to media persons, the Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics & Technology said: "The Communist government and the ideology of the Communist Party of India-Marxist is built on a house of hypocrisy and contradictions. When a documentary from BBC comes, they emotionally give statements about the freedom of speech. At the same time, when journalists here (in Kerala) report on something, freedom of speech suddenly becomes a Marxian concept; they forget it. Marxism and the CPI-M government in Kerala is built on an edifice of hypocrisy and lies."

The remarks come at a time when the media fraternity in Kerala has united against the Pinarayi Vijayan government's actions and is standing in solidarity with Akhila. Prominent Malayalam media outlets, including Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam, and Kerala Kaumudi, have stepped forward to criticize the actions of the LDF government.

Case against Asianet News reporter: Malayalam media stand in solidarity with Akhila

Malayala Manorama's front page emphasized, 'This is not China or North Korea. The arrogance of the party secretary should be confined within the party.' The publication also highlighted the growing trend among ruling party leaders to promote news that favours them while suppressing unfavourable reports.

Mathrubhumi pointed out the emerging dictatorial tendencies and condemned the government's antagonistic approach towards the media. The publication expressed the view that penalizing the media for the government's mistakes is inappropriate.

The case against Akhila Nandakumar

An FIR was filed by the Kochi police in response to a complaint lodged by PM Arsho, the state secretary of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), alleging a conspiracy against him. 

In light of this complaint, the Kochi Police formed a special investigation team to look into the matter. Statements were obtained from the first two accused individuals, V S Joy, the Principal of Maharaja's College, and Dr Vinod Kumar, the Head of the Department of Archeology. According to these statements, the mark list controversy involving the SFI state secretary was merely a technical glitch, and no conspiracy was involved.

However, the inclusion of the chief reporter from Asianet News as one of the accused in the alleged conspiracy case by the Kochi Police has generated widespread condemnation.

Case against Asianet News reporter: CPI-M General Secy Sitaram Yechury goes silent over Kerala govt's action