Picture caption: BJP Rajya Sabha MP V Muraleedharan in conversation with beleaguered social activist Aswathy Jwala
She is not a social butterfly who hangs out in party circles with beautiful and influential people. She is also not a member of the chattering class or Left-leaning, liberal, vainglorious feminists who populate and pollute Thiruvananthapuram’s social circles. She lives with destitute people, spending money from her own meagre resources to feed them and provide succor. Her mother runs a roadside eatery. Her impoverishment has not prevented her from working for the poor people.
Meet Aswathy Nair, popularly known as Aswathy Jwala, a social activist in the true sense of the term. She is in the eye of storm after the CPI(M)-led LDF government launched an all-out offensive against her for exposing “insensitivity” of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who made the sister and husband of Latvian woman Liga Skromane, 33, who was raped and killed in Kerala, wait for three hours and left the office without meeting them. With no one to help, Aswathy had taken up on herself the task of unravelling the truth behind the “sudden disappearance” of Liga — a case the police have been trying to hush up.
Upset by the Chief Minister’s insensitivity, Aswathy wrote a post on her Facebook page which had become viral. In that she criticized the attitude of the political establishment and the police. The police chief even snubbed the hapless kin of the victim. This resulted in the loss of face of the government, which is facing a massive trust deficit. Ever since the post became viral, she has been a target of a malicious campaign by Marxists and the government. The government had ordered an inquiry into her sources of funding. She told reporters that there was a systematic attempt to tarnish her image, “which is unfortunate”. “Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is a Stalinist and they are intolerant to criticism. Aswathy feeds hundreds of homeless people every day with her megre earnings. Only a heartless person can launch an onslaught against such a person. CPI(M)’s cyber army has launched a vicious campaign against her. It is unfortunate that the so-called mainstream media and social activists are silent,” said a mediaperson who doesn’t want to be quoted.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP V Muraleedharan met Aswathy and extended his support to her efforts. He congratulated her for her initiatives that helped unravel the cause behind Liga’s death.
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