A case is currently pending in the Kerala High Court concerning a Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M)) area meeting that obstructed traffic at Vanchiyoor in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. However, despite this legal scrutiny, the party went on to occupy a major road in Kannur for a protest, setting up a pandal near the Head Post Office on February 25. This act was seen as an open challenge to the judiciary and the courts. A busy thoroughfare was closed, denying people their right to travel.
The entire exercise was aimed at blaming the Union Government for ‘ignoring the interests of the state’. CPM workers blocked the road by erecting a dais in the middle and spreading chairs for dharna participants from morning till evening. As a result, people were unable to pass through due to the complete road closure.
This meeting was led by M.V. Jayarajan, senior CPM leader and Kannur district secretary, and CPM leader K.V. Sumesh, MLA. As soon as the road was obstructed, the police arrived—not to restore order but to assist the CPM by diverting vehicles elsewhere. However, there was no attempt to dissuade the party members from blocking transport.
In the evening, the police registered a case against the CPM members—conveniently, only after the event had concluded! A mere eyewash! It was a repeat of the same drama they enacted in the Thiruvananthapuram incident.
In Thiruvananthapuram, the police had registered a case against senior CPM leaders, including state secretary M.V. Govindan. However, they refused to cooperate. Ultimately, the High Court had to summon them, and they appeared before the court rather reluctantly.
CPM’s Pattern of Road Obstructions and Defiance of Law
Conducting political party meetings on roads, ignoring the plight of travellers, is believed to be the right of the Communist parties in Kerala.
It appears that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPM have no inhibitions or sense of propriety; nor are they ashamed of repeatedly obstructing roads in the state for their political meetings. It happens quite often. Naturally, a simple question arises: Why does the CPM resort to such illegal practices despite leading the ruling front in the state? The answer is equally simple: the CPM neither follows nor respects the laws of the land. They justify their actions as democratic norms, practices, and discipline, while in reality, they mislead the people—posing as democrats only to win elections. Once in power, they reveal their true nature—dictators.
CPM leaders have consistently maintained that such agitations are their right and that no authority can question them. Some time ago, the High Court warned political parties against erecting flags and decorations in public places. In response, the CPM reacted strongly against the court’s order. Party leaders ridiculed the judge who issued it and even threatened him. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself defended this stance. This is precisely why the CPM obstructed a busy road in Thiruvananthapuram, despite the High Court’s order prohibiting such acts.
Moreover, the CPM does not tolerate any opposition or protest against its actions. It insists that even the judiciary should be subservient to the party. The CPM has a history of defying the ‘bourgeois court’. It continues to hold the same stance. EMS Namboodiripad, the late CPM supremo and former Kerala Chief Minister, had to pay a penalty for contempt of court. Senior party leader Paloli Mohammedkutty once claimed that court orders are influenced by the financial superiority of the stakeholders involved. M.V. Jayarajan even referred to judges as “shumbhan”, a derogatory term in Malayalam. Now, the same leader has led the obstruction of the road in Kannur.
The people of Kerala now hope that the judiciary will take stringent action against the CPM for these blatant violations.
