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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Maintaining that the people of Kerala were shocked to hear from Prime Minister Narendra Modi certain baseless comments in his recent election rally speech, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday said “this is unbecoming of a prime minister”.

“I was appreciative of your visit to Kerala in the wake of the Paravur temple fire accident. We acknowledge positively to such good deeds. But the people of Kerala were shocked to hear from you certain baseless comments in your recent election rally speech in Kerala. In that speech, you made certain statements that had nothing to do with reality and likened Kerala to Somalia. This is unbecoming of a prime minister and has created a great deal of agony and protest,” he said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi.

“It turned out to be far away from truth when you said that an image of a boy eating from waste dump at Peravoor in Kannur district of Kerala, stirred your mind. You have said so, in spite of facilities at your disposal to check the veracity of reports on such incidents taking place in any corner of this country., said the chief minister.

It was reported by the media that Renjith and Rajith, children of Rajeevan and Sarada, and also Abhinav, Sudeep and Akhil, children of Sasi and Santha, belonging to Paniya community and staying at Thiruvonappuram Ambalakuzhi Colony in ward 12 of Peravur grama panchayat, were bunking classes to trespass a waste treatment plant for consuming stale food, he said, adding that an inquiry was immediately done on the matter by the Department of Scheduled Tribe Development and the local police.

As per the report of the Director of Scheduled Tribe Development Department submitted to the government on 18-11-2015, he said, these children studying in the 5th and 6th standards at Vekkalam U.P. School are facing complaints of skipping classes and trespassing farmlands and residential properties. “They also trespass the waste treatment plant, despite stern warnings from the plant workers. Their parents are agricultural labourers and they get jobs on a steady basis, because of which the family did not experience difficulty in getting food or other necessities. The two families were given an acre of land each in the 10th block of the rehabilitation centre in the Aaralam Farm, but they have not yet moved to that place for permanent settlement. Currently these families are living in habitable homes,” said the CM.

He further said the Peravur Police in their report of 24-11-2015 said the children were taken to the school free-of-cost on vehicle by the school manager Shibu Kalamandir and were provided with free mid-day meal and on two days a week milk and egg. “They rarely go to school. Everyday, these children after having food would leave their homes at their convenience. They are in the habit of jumping the walls of the waste treatment plant and pick the scrap, which they sell to buy food of their liking from hotels. They also trespass farmlands to collect areca nut and coconut and used to sell them.

“The respective reports of the police and the Scheduled Tribe Development Department confirm the fact that the children never went to the waste treatment plant in search of food. In the police report, it has been said that these children gather scrap and sell them for buying food from hotels. The facts being so, what was your motive behind saying such a blatant lie to the people of Kerala? I can assure you that no child in Kerala takes stale food. In Kerala, 25.02 lakh school- going students are being provided with free mid-day meal and egg on one day and milk on another in a week. For five years, the government of Kerala has been giving rice at rupees one to 94 lakh people. Now, we are giving that free of cost, making us the second State in India to do so,” he added.

The Chief Minister said he also could not agree to the Prime Minister’s comment on political violence and murders in Kerala getting sidelined by the respective governments that came to power so far in Kerala. “This is totally baseless. We have probed the political murder of T P Chandrasekharan and charge-sheet submitted to the court in a time-bound manner. Three CPM leaders and seven hired killers were sentenced to 11 years in prison in this case. We had requested the Union government for CBI inquiry to find out the conspiracy behind the murder of T P Chandrasekharan. Unfortunately, till date, the Union government has not responded to this request. One is forced to suspect whether this attitude of the Union government is an outcome of the nexus between the BJP and the CPM,” he added.

He further said no one in Kerala is going to panic on hearing the word 'solar'. “The people of Kerala know well that not a single penny of the government was lost in the Solar scam case, which is a financial fraud, the victims of which are private parties. It is interesting to note that the allegations as part of the Solar scam were raised by a person chargesheeted in 33 cases. You have been quite eloquent on several occasions regarding the solar power initiative in Kerala. In the recent Renewable Energy Roundtable Conference held in California, attended by 196 nations, you proudly mentioned three projects, of which, one was the Nedumbassery International Airport that works solely on solar power. I wonder whether it befits a prime minister to feel disgraced during the time of elections and proud on other occasions,” he added.

“May I bring to your attention that Kerala is above the national average in terms of economic growth and human resource development for the past five years. Kerala's human resource has caught the attention of the world. Yet, you compared Kerala to Somalia that is reeling under poverty and internal strife. Is it not Kerala a State in India? And is it not a shame for the prime minister to pronounce that a State like Somalia exists in the country?”

“You have said in your speech that there is a place for Kerala in your heart. If that is the case, then you could have been sincere with your statements on Kerala. The high office of the prime minister has been graced by stalwarts from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Dr Manmohan Singh. And with a great deal of regret, let me point out that they never attempted anything that brought disrepute to the office of the prime minister like you have done,” he said, adding that it is my earnest request that you would show some political decency by withdrawing your statements made couple of days ago in Kerala that are baseless and contrary to ground realities,” said the chief minister.