Left extremists foment trouble: Kodiyeri

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan says Kerala has the best law and order situation in the country.

Thiruvananthapuram: Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has said that Left extremist groups are attempting to create problems in Kerala after having realised that they can no more use the State as a safe haven.

Speaking to journalists here on Thursday, the Minister said the arrest of a top Maoist leader (Malla Raja Reddy in Kochi in December) seemed to have provoked such elements to create problems in Kerala. They seek to foment trouble at some point in the future by attempting to propagate their extremist ideology among certain sections of the population.

There were no Maoist pockets of influence in Kerala. There was no evidence of any Hizbul Mujahideen activity in Kerala. However, certain extremist elements were using human rights organisations as a front for their activities. “We know these people and the masks they use,” Mr. Kodiyeri said. They chose such facades because they were afraid to openly identify themselves with their extremist causes. Kerala’s progressive society, armed with its strong democratic traditions, would defeat all forms of extremism in its territory, he said.

Crime rate


Mr. Kodiyeri said there was no truth in the propaganda, unleashed by a section of the media, that Kerala was the land of crime and criminals. Kerala showed a high crime rate (as per recently published National Crime Records Bureau statistics) because of the willingness of the police to register and investigate even minor offences. The high registration of cases in Kerala was indicative of the people’s trust in their police force, their awareness of their civic rights, the confidence that the police would protect complainants and the public’s lack of fear of criminals, the Minister said.

A large number of cases registered in Kerala related to traffic offences and road accidents, which were on the rise. The police registered a large number of cases on its own and on the basis of complaints received on telephone.

Kerala is the arena of intense political activity, which often manifested in the form of demonstrations, marches, pickets and sit-ins. The police commonly register cases of unlawful assembly when people conduct demonstrations without seeking their permission in advance. The NCRB has construed such cases as those registered in connection with riotous situations, he said.

The number of murders reported in Kerala had gone down from 509 in 1994 to 351 in 2007, despite a 15 per cent increase in the State’s population, the Minister said.