CPM Leader Prevented Police Action in 2019 'Heckling' Incident: Kerala Governor

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan alleged that KK Ragesh, who now works at the CMO, joined the protests against him.

Arif Mohammed Khan.

(Photo: Facebook/Arif Mohammed Khan.)

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday, 19 September, alleged that a senior official, currently working in the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, prevented the police from taking action when Khan was reportedly "heckled" over his remarks on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019.

Addressing a press conference at the Raj Bhawan, the governor presented a video from 2019, in which Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP KK Ragesh can be seen as Khan faces protests at Kannur University.

"He (Ragesh) stopped the police from giving protection to me. He went down from the dais and joined the protesting audience. Have you ever seen such a scenario?" Khan said.

Ragesh is currently the private secretary of CM Vijayan.

'Police Wanted To Take Action but Were Stopped' 

Khan further alleged that police officials wanted to take action against the protesters but were unable to do so.

"Police officers told me that they wanted to act, but they were prevented from taking action, because the person who should have instructed police to take action was party to the conspiracy," the governor added.

He also claimed that Ragesh was awarded for this "conspiracy" as he was appointed as the chief minister's private secretary.

"I am not asking the police to investigate it. I want the media to investigate," Khan said.

He also cited Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertains to the intent to compel or restrain the exercise of a lawful power with regard to the president, governor etc.

"This is a cognisable offence and the police can take suo motu case on the issue. A person booked under section 124 of IPC shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine," Khan asserted.

Khan was at the inauguration of the Indian History Congress in Kannur in 2019 when he purportedly said that the CAA fulfilled the promises made by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru to non-Muslims who were left in Pakistan after the division of the country.

Due to these remarks, students raised slogans against the governor, who also accused historian Irfan Habib, one of the delegates, of "disrupting" his address.