Kerala CPI (M) on Saturday offered Rs 10 lakh to the family of Junaid Khan, the 16-year-old boy who was killed on a train in Haryana by an angry mob. In the last week of July, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijyayan had met Junaid’s parents Shahira and Jalaludheen, along with his brothers, Hasheem and Shakhir, at Kerala House.
“CPI (M) state committee decided to give Rs 1o lakh to the family of Junaid, who was killed by RSS in a train from Delhi to Haryana. Junaid’s family is in Haryana. The other day the family had met CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Then they had requested help in the education of the children. Considering this the state committee decided to give the money, through central committee we will hand over it to the family,” CPI (M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan informed through Facebook.
CM Pinarayi had earlier told the media that he had promised the family help to complete the construction of the study centre that the family has begun at Khambi village in UP. CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat and DYFI national president Mohammed Riyas also accompanied the family to Kerala House. Pinarayi had also assured the family that secular parties are with them at their time of need.
"The family of Junaid, a Madrassa student from Haryana, who was killed by communal fundamentalists in a train came to meet me at Kerala House in Delhi. I have assured them that secular people in the country will be always there with the family," a statement on the official page of the Chief Minister on July 26 said.
16-year-old Junaid Khan was stabbed to death in a train by a mob in June after an argument over seats escalated, and he and his companions were abused with religious slurs and were accused of carrying beef in their bags.