Govt in dock on action against Current Books

Kochi: The LDF government is in the dock again following its action against Thrissur-based Current Books, the publishers of 'Sravukalkoppam Neenthumbol' (Swimming along with sharks) by suspended IPS officer Jacob Thomas. The police raided the office of the long-standing publisher in the state the other day and asked it to submit all details of the agreement between the author and the publisher.

This comes in the wake of the LDF government facing a storm of protest against its interference in the freedom of expression on the cartoon issue. It may be recalled that Culture Minister A.K. Balan had asked the Lalitakala Akademi to cancel an award to a controversial cartoon in the name of offending religious sentiments.

The police raided the office and searched computers and recorded the statements of the composer, proof reader and editor of the publishing firm. The police also served a notice on the book house to submit all communications exchanged between the publisher and Jacob Thomas in connection with the publication of the book, which was first printed in May 2017.

Mr. Thomas, former director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), is facing disciplinary action from the government for violating service rules for writing the book without the requisite permission from his superiors.

The action against the publisher has drawn criticism from writers and publishers across the state. Writers Sara Joseph and K. Aravindakshan along with Pepin Thomas, managing director of Current Books, and K.J. Johny, publications manager, jointly held a press conference in Thrissur on Wednesday and asked the government to stop the police action against the publisher.  Well- known critic M.N. Karassery also supported the publisher.

"It is a shame that the Pepin Thomas, grandson of Joseph Mundasserry, education minister in the first Communist ministry in the state in 1957, has to hold a press conference on the 'Reading Day' to complain about police harassment for publishing a book," said Jayachandran of CICC Books in Kochi.

"If any writer in government service has violated service rules, the government has to take action against the person concerned as per the law. It is not the duty of the publisher to examine whether the content in a book violates service rules or not," said Sara Joseph and Aravindakshan.  It is a technical matter between the writer and the government departments concerned, they added.

The police action comes soon after the government faced embarrassment for issuing a directive to Lalithakala Akademi to cancel the award for the cartoon saying that it hurt the religious sentiments of Christians. The akademi the other day declined to comply with the directive. The cartoon depicting Bishop Franco Mulakkal, facing charges of raping a nun, as a rooster was selected as the best by a three-member jury appointed by the akademi.