Dubious journalist Siddique Kappan who is out on conditional bail on February 2 has said that he is happy to be called a “terrorist”. Talking to an Islamist media outlet Media One, Kappan, who was formerly associated with now-defunct Popular Front of India (PFI)’s mouthpiece, Thejas, likened himself to Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Nelson Mandela and said his fight will continue. He regretted that though he was free, two Islamist comrades-in-arms arrested along with him continue to languish in the prison.
Kappan was arrested two years ago while he was on his way to Hathras in UP to undertake a Popular Front plan to create social unrest in the state along with an equally dubious upstart Dalit outfit. Kappan who had allegedly worked for an online portal used to put up in the office of an NGO run by the Popular Front in Delhi. Kappan was the national coordinator of the NGO, NCHRO, now banned by the Centre along with Popular Front. Besides this, investigators found that Kappan was one of the key decision-makers of the banned outfit. The banned Islamist outfit had acknowledged his contribution in an organization report, revealed the UP Police.
Kappan was arrested by UP Police along with his Islamist colleagues on way to Hathras after they tried to create ruckus at a toll gate. The police arrested him after he failed to produce any valid identification document. He was carrying the identity card of the defunct Popular Front mouthpiece Thejas.
Betraying delusions of grandeur, Kappan claimed that his next mission is to “fight for the rights of minorities and Dalits”. Although he has been granted bail, there are many gaps in his statement to the courts, though the courts chose to overlook them. He told the courts that he had worked for the Mangalam and Suprabhatam (owned by Muslim management) newspapers. Both the newspaper managements have issued statements dismissing Kappan’s claims.
Although Kappan’s friends in the media want to play down his Popular Front connections, investigations into his WhatsApp chats with top echelons of the Islamist outfit unraveled deep links. A Malayala Manorama journalist who cooperated with the UP Police investigations in the Kappan case received death-threats from Popular Front terrorists. The Bihar Police gave round-the-clock security to the journalist who is posted in Patna after examining the threat perception from Islamists. Indus Scrolls Managing Director G Sreedathan also received death-threats from Islamists after Newslaundry, a pro-Islamist media outlet, published a report on him. In the report, Akanksha Kumar distorted the written statement given by Sreedathan to suit the Islamist narrative. She deliberately chose to hide Kappan’s PFI links. Kumar got an award (cash also) for her reportage from an anti-India, pro-Islamist outfit. Although she had been summoned by the UP Police for flouting UAPA provisions, she is yet to join investigation.
Meanwhile, a media campaign to make Kappan the mascot of free speech is underway in state as well as national media. Till recently, we were told that by his Pinarayist-Islamist colleagues that he was arrested by the UP Government as he was a Muslim. In an article in The Indian Express, Kappan dismissed the claim and stated that he was arrested because he’s a “journalist from Kerala”. Some other media outlets, including TOI, have written editorials projecting Kappan as a paragon of journalistic ethics. Kappan was made general secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) which is controlled by Pinarayists violating its own rules. KUWJ is facing serious allegations of financial misappropriation.
Flush with slush money, Popular Front, through its supporters in the media, has managed to bail out Kappan. According to sources, Kappan who knows the inside-out of the PFI would have been detrimental to its interests. So, it pumped in huge money and engaged top-notch lawyers to bail him out.
It’s fact that Kappan’s arrest has led to the banning of the Popular Front and thereby breaking the backbone of jihadi network spread across South India. His ‘valuable’ inputs have led to the arrest of several key figures in the terror network. PFI has built considerable jihadi capacity in South India.
Meanwhile, about eight journalists in Kerala were interrogated by National Investigative Agency for their links with global terror outfits. NIA investigation found that many journalists in Kerala were on the payrolls of the PFI.
Tail piece: Senior journalist Shajan Scaria of Marunadan Malayali says now it’s not Communism that is ruling the roost in Kerala but Pinarayism. According to him, Pinarayism is characterized by three ‘M’s – Money Power (corruption), Media (funding mediapersons and media outlets through advertisements) and Muslim (Islamists) appeasement. Mediapersons benefited from Pinarayi largesse are called Pinarayists.
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