CPI (M) MP John Brittas summoned by Vice prez over ‘anti-Amit Shah’ article

A show-cause notice has been served to Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas by the Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankar on Sunday over an article criticizing Union Home Minister Amit Shah for outbursts against Kerala.

Brittas’s critical article – Perils of Propaganda – on Shah was published by The Indian Express on February 20.

The summon was made based on a complaint by the general secretary of Kerala’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) P Sudheer.

Confirming the news, Brittas said it was the Centre’s tactics to silence dissent.

“Yes, I was called for a meeting over an article I wrote and I explained sufficiently my position on the issue. I told the Rajya Sabha chairman that writing the article was my fundamental right and part of my freedom of expression. If a cryptic remark can be made on Kerala, I am fully free to respond,” Brittas said.

Brittas had written over a remark by Shah while touring Karnataka in February that the saffron party is the only hope to keep the country safe. “There is Kerala near you. I don’t want to say much,” Shah had remarked.

“Shah’s periodic outbursts targeting Kerala are proof of his desperation as well as his attempt to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra and rewind this country to a past with the Manu Smriti replacing the Constitution. Kerala has tirelessly resisted his party’s designs,” Brittas mentioned in his article.