Reiterating its stand on imposing Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Alan Suhaib and Thaha Fazal, two students from Kerala’s Kozhikode district, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) national president said that the draconian law must not be imposed on accused, even if they are Maoists. Muhammad Riyas, the national president of DYFI, was reacting to a question on arresting Alan and Thaha under UAPA for allegedly distributing pro-Maoist posters.
Muhammad Riyas, however, said that the two students have Maoists connection - a stand that the DYFI’s ruling parent party, CPI(M), has maintained.
“There is no doubt that Alan and Thaha have Maoist connections. But DYFI has always stood against the imposition of UAPA, even if the accused are Maoists. This has been our stand,” Muhammad Riyas told Media One at its one of its online programmes. Muhammad Riyas is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Twenty-year-old Alan and 24-year-old Thaha were arrested by Pantheerankavu police in Kozhikode in November 2019 for allegedly distributing pro-Maoist posters. The Kerala government had come under heavy criticism when the Kerala police booked the case under UAPA.
Although Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had termed the UAPA a ‘black law’ and had said the UAPA was not the state government’s stance, he defended the arrest, stating that the two were not CPI(M) cadre but ‘Maoists’.
The CPI(M)-led Left government had drawn severe flak, with many calling it a ‘dual stance’ for imposing UAPA on the students while the party had been vocal against the draconian law before.
Reacting to this, Muhammad Riyas said that DYFI, which is the youth wing of CPI(M), has always demanded that UAPA charges should be removed, even if the accused has Maoist connections. “Such accused persons must be repealed from UAPA charges in the case,” he added.
Earlier in February, too, Muhammad Riyas had stated a similar stance. “Riyas had earlier also said that DYFI is against imposing UAPA. "Those who are trapped should be corrected and brought back. Everyone knows that they have connection with it (Maoists). Our stand is that those who are trapped should be corrected and brought back
Alan and Thaha, who were both members of the CPI(M), were ousted from the party in February after they were arrested.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the case in December 2019, has submitted the chargesheet to the NIA court in Kochi. Alan and Thaha are currently kept in a high-security prison in Viyyur, Thrissur.
Many activists and organisations in the state had come out against imposing UAPA on the students. Recently, in June, Alan who met the media while on an ‘escort visit’ to meet his ailing relative, had said that the NIA has given him an offer to make him an approver in the case.