The liberals across the country tend to live and die by the notion that Freedom of Speech is paramount for an individual, and no one can and should be allowed to encroach upon it. However, in the ‘liberal utopia land’ of Kerala, a former journalist named Vineetha Venu and her family is being constantly harassed, cyberbullied and threatened for life after she reported on the ruling Communist party and its political murders.
In a public post on Facebook, Vineetha said that her husband, who is posted at Chombala police station in Kozhikode district, was returning home when his friend, who is a soldier posted in the Northeast, requested him to check about the well-being of his parents who stayed close to their residence at Payam in Kannur district.
When he stopped his bike near his friend’s home and was attending a phone call, a group of drunken youths came and started to question his presence and escalated the situation by hassling him. It was only when the police from Iritty arrived at the scene that Vineetha’s husband was ‘rescued’ from the spot.
The woman journalist also remarked that her husband who has never consumed alcohol in his life was forcefully subjected to medical testing of alcohol use and was found negative. In what can be termed as crude abuse of power and political vengeance, Vineetha’s husband was transferred 7 times, and the nightmare only stopped when she lodged a complaint with the state police chief.
Troubled by the ordeal, Vineetha pleaded with the CPI-M leadership to relieve them of their trauma by “killing the family with a single swing of the machete”. “I, my husband, and my small children will come at Kannur town square… finish us off, but please kill us by a single swing of the machete,” she wrote.
According to media reports, CPI-M and its hoodlums have been targeting Vineetha ever since she reported on the brutal murder of Youth Congress worker, Shoaib who was attacked by CPI-M men on February 12, 2018, late at night. Shoaib had sustained severe injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. A day later, he succumbed to his injuries at the Kozhikode Medical college hospital.
“The spot reporting antagonised the CPI-M and they started showering abuses on me and my husband in social media groups,” said Vineetha in the post. Soon after, the IT cell of CPI-M started insinuating on social media platforms that it was her husband who had leaked the information.
Vineetha stated that she reported on the incident only after the Malayali news channels broke the news. However, the CPI-M goons trained their guns on her and ever since then have been on Vineetha’s tail.
“This was pure vilification. I had done the story after two Malayalam channels had reported on the leakage and levelling the allegations that my husband had leaked to me does not stand as he is a lower level policeman… all the details were with senior police officers,” she said.
After the news came to light, the Coalition For Women In Journalism condemned the persistent harassment against Vineetha and her family and demanded that the harassment and threats against the journalist must be investigated by the cybersecurity division of Kerala police so that she could pursue her professional commitments without facing further persecution.
Kerala is dubbed as the land of super intellectuals and eminent personalities who tend to boast about the high literacy rate of the state, at the top of their voice. However, if a journalist has to hide and beg the state administration to kill her, for merely reporting on an incident, then it surely is a huge blot on the credibility of the regime and a direct attack on the freedom of speech of that individual. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has received a mandate for a second straight term should pull back his goons and stop the vengeance-filled attacks on a woman who has been suffering for the last 3 years.