The gold-smuggling scandal accused Swapna Suresh alleged that former minister and CPI(M)-backed legislator K T Jaleel had written to the UAE government seeking ban on Malayalam daily Madhyamam in that country.
Jaleel admitted that he had written such a letter, but only demanded appropriate action against the daily.
Suresh levelled the allegation against Jaleel through an affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court on Friday in connection with her petition seeking quashing of a criminal case registered against her. The case was registered against Suresh last month after she alleged that the family of the chief minister had sent bags loaded with currency notes to the UAE.
In her affidavit in the high court, Suresh alleged that Jaleel had written to UAE government in June 2020 that Madhyamam daily should be banned after the newspaper published reports about Covid-19 deaths of expatriates in that country. He (Jaleel) wanted strong action against the newspaper as the report in the daily had brought disgrace to the rulers of the UAE, she said.
Suresh alleged that after writing to the UAE government against Madhyamam, Jaleel had been in touch with her as well as the UAE Consul General (in Thiruvananthapuram). “He had sent mails to the Consul General and sent its details to me through WhatsApp reminding us about his letter. After the smuggling case emerged (July 2020), he couldn’t do any follow up on the demand. Jaleel wanted to get into the good books of the UAE government,’’ said Suresh.
Reacting to the allegation, Jaleel said he had written to the UAE rulers against the newspaper. “What I demanded was only appropriate action against the daily. I had sent the mail from my personal ID. I don’t find any protocol violation in the issue,” he said.
The Left legislator’s demand seeking action against the media has embarrassed the CPI(M), which claims to stand for freedom of expression and speech. Besides, Jaleel’s admission that he did write to the UAE government gave credibility to the Suresh’s allegations. When she raised serious allegations against the political leadership of the government, CPI(M) had tried to wriggle out of the issue saying that Suresh has no credibility.
What apparently irked Jaleel was a report in Madhyamam, alleging the lukewarm approach of the state and Centre in bringing back expatriates during the pandemic days. The newspaper, published from Kerala, has editions in the Middle East.
Madhyamam is promoted by Jamaat-e-Islami, Kerala, which had stood with the Left till Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Earlier this year, when the Union government banned Jamaat-e-Islami backed news channel, Media One TV, citing security reasons, CPI(M) had vehemently flayed the Centre, saying that the action reflected the intolerance of the Sangh Parivar towards the media. The issue is pending in the Supreme Court, which, in an interim order, had lifted the ban.
CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told the media that the demand for banning the newspaper is not the policy of the party.
