South Central 37 | VS Achuthanandan’s Legacy and Gag Orders in the Dharmasthala Case

In this week's episode of South Central, Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath discuss the life and legacy of V.S. Achuthanandan and look at the recent gag orders related to reporting on Dharmasthala, and revisit older allegations and data on deaths in the temple town.

Published on:

26 Jul 2025, 2:15 pm

In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna and Leena Raghunath first look back at the life and political journey of VS Achuthanandan. They are joined by environmentalist Sridhar Radhakrishnan and senior journalist Sreejan Balakrishnan, who speak about VS’s legacy, his confrontation with corporate and party power, and how he became a rare politician whose moral authority outlived his electoral career.

On VS Achuthanandan’s stand on environmental issues, Sridhar says, “When the CPI(M) decided to support the Coca-Cola company in Plachimada, VS opposed it. He stood with the people. In the end, of course, the party overruled him, but it was very significant that he stood against corporate interests even when his own party didn't. He also consistently supported the endosulfan-affected communities in Kasaragod, long before it became a mainstream issue. That kind of environmental consciousness, combined with political courage, was rare.”

Sreejan adds, “He had the courage to call a spade a spade and to file vigilance cases against his own ministers. That is not something you see in today’s political climate. VS wasn’t trying to please everyone. He took positions that made people uncomfortable, within the CPI(M) and outside. And I think that’s why he retained moral authority till the very end.”

On VS’s presence at protests and his moral authority, Leena says, “Even when you walk into a camp of environmentalists, as a CM, who can walk right into the heart of it. I think in many montages that even national television is showing now, you can see the walk of VS, right? The way he walks into protests, the way he's older than all of those people behind him. He's really old and frail and suffering from the police torture that his young age has suffered. But this man walks with moral authority. So that itself conveys that emotion of a politician that V.S. Achuthanandan is.”

In the second part of the episode, the hosts are joined by TNM’s Karnataka Bureau Chief Anisha Sheth to discuss the gag orders issued in the Dharmasthala case and what they mean for the media. The conversation looks at the legal battle over injunctions that restrain reporting, the volume of content taken down, and revisits data and allegations related to deaths in the temple town.

“We should be able to ask: why did a man make such a serious allegation? What is being done to verify it? Is the media being stopped from reporting because it is defamatory or because it is inconvenient?,” says Dhanya

Pooja adds, “Even before we could publish a single word on this story, an injunction was granted. It clearly shows a pattern of preemptive silencing. And the order didn’t just stop new reports, it asked for 8,800 links to be taken down. That’s not protecting reputation; that’s wiping out public memory.”

On the need to investigate patterns of deaths in Dharmasthala, Anisha says, “The case raises important questions, how many unnatural deaths have been reported in and around Dharmasthala over the years? These are numbers that need investigation, not silence.”

All this and more—tune in.

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Audio Timecodes

00: 00:00- Introduction

00:01:20- Headlines

00:08:09- Support TNM

00:09:50 - VS Achuthanandan's Legacy