Kerala police has not registered an FIR as yet against a Kerala minister’s staff who compared Bharat’s soldiers to his dogs. Kerala State Civil Supplies Department, popularly known as ‘Supplyco,’ is a fully-owned Government of Kerala undertaking established in 1974. Sujaikumar Titus, a Supplyco employee and personal staff member of GR Anil (Minister for Food and Civil Supplies of Kerala), made this inflammatory statement on his Facebook page. 

“Soldiers protect our country. Kaisar and Mittu (two of his dogs) protect my home. They are chained during the day and set free at night. To touch a dog’s feet is not Bharatiya Culture. Soldiers draw the highest remunerations among government employees. It is fine if you touch your parents’ feet. It is our culture. It is shameful to touch your dogs’ feet.”

Anil is a Communist party of India (CPI) leader. Both Congress and the ruling communists are notorious for cronyism. They appoint friends and associates to positions of authority without proper regard for their qualifications at will, critics allege. It is said that the state public service commission rarely bothers when it comes to such appointments, especially when selecting a minister’s personal staff. Most such appointees are party members, and it can be safely believed that Titus, too, belongs to the party of the minister he serves. 

Ananthapuri Soldiers Association, a body of retired soldiers based out of Thiruvananthapuram, lambasted Titus and his Facebook post. They complained to the minister and got a reply that he was ‘awaiting a report’ in this regard. Association members stated they would take legal action if the Kerala government did not take proper action against the anti-national post. 

Titus’s inflammatory Facebook post invited the wrath of patriots and soldiers alike. As the controversy grew, Titus reluctantly deleted his post. Anil’s office claimed that though Titus was a Supplyco employee, he was not on their personal staff list. On 13 December, Titus posted a new message (now made private) as an ‘apology’ which reads as below: 

“A few months back, I watched a video of a toddler touching the feet of an Indian soldier. Immediately after watching the video, I felt someone had forced the minor child to do that. That is not the way to show respect. The next day I realized that the post’s words were incorrect and tried to delete it. My inexperience using Facebook meant that the social media post remained. Later on, I did delete it. I understand that this post has offended many honorable soldiers. I apologize to all of them.”

Hindus touch the feet of parents, gurus, and elders to seek their blessings. Such respect seems challenging for Abrahamic fundamentalists, of which Communists are an offshoot, to digest. Titus’s anti-Hindu attitude is, sadly, not uncommon. It depends on factors like upbringing, education, society, church/party affiliation etc., but why drag in soldiers? As far as Bharatiya culture is concerned, do we need schooling from a semi-converted Christian communist?

CPI claims innocence

On 14 December, Anil’s office released an explanation signed by his Additional Private Secretary, Baby Castro.

“We noticed a social media post released by Janam TV that associated the food department with someone insulting our soldiers. No Indian can look down upon the excellent service rendered by the soldiers to the nation but with awe. The (Facebook) post’s content is strongly condemned as it hurts our soldiers’ morale.”

“That the person who did this is on the food minister’s personal staff is baseless. He is working as a driver with the civil supplies corporation. At some point, his services have been made available through Supplyco for the vehicular needs of the minister’s office. Apart from this, there is no political or official connection with that person. As soon as the complaint was raised, the matter was brought to the attention of Supplyco CMD, and he was asked to take immediate appropriate action.”

It meant that CPI had washed its hands off Titus. Unlike senior officials, the personal details of positions like drivers and peons of ministers are not available online. 

On 15 December, Titus was suspended pending an investigation. According to the suspension order, his action has tarnished the reputation of Supplyco. He was asked to hand over his vehicle and related documents to their regional office. Incidentally, he was allowed a ‘subsistence’ allowance during the suspension period. This means that he can stay at home and expect 60% of his salary to get credited every month until the controversy subsides, following which there is high likelihood of him being discreetly reinstated.

1962 war

In 1962, as the Bharatiya army fought Chinese aggression in the Himalayas, the undivided CPI supported China, putting ideology above Bharat. The government imprisoned several communist leaders. VS Achuthanandan, a 39-year-old central committee member who would subsequently be elected to the CPM politburo, was taken to the central jail in Thiruvananthapuram.

To blunt the accusations that comrades were Chinese agents, Achuthanandan suggested donating blood for the jawans and contributing money from the sale of prison meals saved by inmates to the defense kitty of the government.

That suggestion was rejected by O J Joseph, the chairman of the party’s jail committee. Later on, he became a Rajya Sabha member. Achuthanandan made another effort at the following meeting. He campaigned and debated fiercely, and the gathering ended in a brawl between the two factions commanded by Achuthanandan and Joseph. Achuthanandan abandoned his idea to donate blood to the troops as the argument heated up.

But the matter was not forsaken. After being released from prison in October 1965, a party member officially complained to the leadership about Achuthanandans’ ‘anti-party’ conduct. A committee was created to investigate, and it found Achuthanandan guilty!

According to senior Kerala CPM leader M Lawrance, Achuthanandan wanted to donate blood to injured Bharatiya army soldiers and rations without consulting the party. His action ‘aided the government’s attempt to destroy the communist party’. Therefore, his behavior was deemed anti-party. Achuthanandan was demoted and spent a year working at the Alappuzha district secretariat.

Such is the history of the communists in Kerala; Titus seems to be a successor of Joseph and Lawrance. Titus’ suspension shows that, unlike in 1962, the communists now fear the awakened ordinary Hindu.

Kerala Marxists have a history of being annoyed whenever our soldiers thrash the Chinese armed forces that try to sneak into our territory. Incidentally, they are the same China/Pakistan supporting anti-national ‘Azadi’ gangs who ask for ‘evidence’ whenever our army reports a skirmish at our 15,000-odd km land border and an equally formidable maritime one.  

Incidentally, towards end October, five Kerala police officers were suspended for assaulting a serving Indian Army soldier named Vishnu (30) and his brother Vignesh (25) in August. HinduPost reported how widespread protests led everyone from the Army, the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police (DGP), south zone DIG R Nishanthini, Kollam city police commissioner Merin Joseph, to Kerala State Human Rights Commission scrambled for damage control.

Defense minister Rajnath Singh ordered a detailed inquiry and Keralite BJP MP from Karnataka and Minister of State for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar assured necessary help to Vishnu’s family.  

Though there was plenty of visual evidence, Merin Joseph submitted a report that since there were no witnesses the identity of the assailants could not be confirmed! The police brutality happened inside the Kilikollur police station and the footage was widely publicized on social media. Allegedly, babus in the defence ministry at Delhi made sure that the controversy was properly concealed.

Personal Staff Menace

Out of 140 MLAs, there are 21 cabinet ministers in Kerala. The first Pinarayi Vijayan government (2016-21) had 448 staff members for its ministers, and his second, which assumed office in May 2021, now has 489. Currently, Vijayan leads with 33 personal staff members. He is closely followed by his son-in-law PA Mohammed Riyas (Minister for Public Works and Tourism) and V Abdurehman (Minister for Sports, Wakf and Haj Pilgrimage), who have 28 each. 

They are in the ranks of private secretary, special private secretary, additional private secretary, assistant private secretary, section officer, confidential assistant, personal assistant, additional personal assistant, and assistant. Multiple clerks, computer assistants, drivers, cooks, sweepers, and office attendants exist. 

At the Centre, a cabinet minister is entitled to 15 staff members against the 25 in Kerala. All direct recruits (mostly party members) of personal staff in Kerala are entitled to a pension upon completion of two years. Hence, there is always a mad scramble to get appointed as a minister’s staff. None of the directly recruited personal staffers is entitled to a pension in Delhi. 

When questioned, Vijayan reminded Congress that the Oommen Chandy government (2011-16) had 612 personal staff members. Leader of the opposition, VD Satheesan, had 23 personal staff who collectively draw a salary of around Rs. 2.5 cr each year. Though exact figures are never published, the numbers are astronomical when one adds all expenses paid trips, foreign medical treatments, lavish bungalows, the fleet of bullet-proof vehicles, and other perks. These numbers silenced the Kerala opposition. 

Earlier this month, a Kerala High Court division bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chali found nothing wrong with the Chief Minister, chief whip, chief opposition leader, and ministers appointing their personal staff at their discretion. They added that it would “facilitate ease in governance” and provide “confidence to the respective ministers for dealing with many confidential matters.” It comes at a time when Kerala’s public debt is fast approaching Rs. four lakh crores.

At times like these, it appears that Babudom and judiciary are two sides of the same coin.

Arif Mohammad Khan, the Kerala governor, is fighting a lone battle against nepotism, cronyism, and extravagance, but it seems like he is losing the war. That is another story to be told another day.