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CPI(M) disowns online attacks on Mammootty after DYFI, SFI leaders' visit: Govindan says party never ganged up
CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said the party had no role in online attacks on actor Mammootty and on the DYFI and SFI leaders who visited his home. Senior leader P Jayarajan also condemned the abuse, but some party supporters say the March row over K Rafeeq was never settled.
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The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has distanced itself from online attacks on actor Mammootty, which were allegedly posted by Left-leaning social media accounts after he hosted leaders of its youth and student wings at his home. State secretary M V Govindan said on Friday, 30 October, that the party neither authorised nor supported any campaign against the actor, and that it does not back coordinated attacks on anyone.
What Govindan said
Govindan called Mammootty a legendary Malayalam actor known across the world. He said the actor might have criticised certain things, but that the party views such criticism constructively. He said the party had never decided to carry out such actions and is willing to engage with critics as well as supporters. In his words, the party is not into ganging up against anyone. He added that party representatives would keep meeting people from all walks of life, regardless of political affiliation, and not only those associated with the Students' Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India.
The meeting that started it
Mammootty invited leaders of the DYFI and the SFI to his home. Those who met him included DYFI state president Chintha Jerome, DYFI state secretary and Kalliasseri MLA M Vijin, SFI state president M Sivaprasad, SFI state secretary P S Sajeev and DYFI state treasurer R Rahul. Sajeev said the group spent more than two hours with the actor discussing politics, religion, culture, cinema, history and the future of Kerala. The reports do not give the date of the meeting.
The student and youth leaders shared photographs and videos of the visit on social media, and some Left-leaning users reacted badly to them. Party supporters asked why the leaders had posed with an actor they felt had humiliated the party's Wayanad district secretary, and some said that Mammootty should have shown solidarity with the groups' protests in public instead of through a private meeting. The anger was aimed at the DYFI and SFI leaders and also at the actor.
The anger goes back to a private visit that Mammootty made on 7 March to the township in Kalpetta, Wayanad, built by the state government for families displaced by the 2024 Mundakkai–Chooralmala landslides. K Rafeeq, the CPI(M)'s Wayanad district secretary, was helping with the crowd. Mammootty told him not to follow him everywhere, saying people might think that he had come at the party's behest, and asked him to step aside. A video of the exchange went viral and drew criticism from Left-leaning users.
According to one report, Mammootty later called Rafeeq, said he meant no insult and explained that he was concerned about how a joint appearance might be read politically. Rafeeq confirmed that the matter was settled.
Senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan condemned the abuse in a Facebook post. He said that the Wayanad matter had been resolved on the same day and pointed to the well-known bond between Rafeeq and the actor. He accused some groups of reviving a settled misunderstanding for their own gain, urged people to ignore false propaganda and asked for the attacks to end. He called the abuse character assassination and said that it is not Left politics.
DYFI's Vijin described the meeting as a democratic exchange of ideas and said the Wayanad controversy should have ended after Mammootty and Rafeeq resolved it. Sajeev said that Mammootty had invited the SFI's office-bearers and that the issue with Rafeeq had already been resolved. Rafeeq himself appealed to supporters to stop the arguments, saying the issue had been explained and settled.
One report says Jayarajan's appeal did not stop the criticism. Some supporters replied that the matter had not been resolved and that senior leaders could not declare it closed, and some replying to Rafeeq's post said the insult had been aimed at the party as a movement, not at him personally. Another report says that CPI(M) member Vishnu Sathyan rejected the description of the criticism as a cyberattack.
The reports do not say which accounts posted the abuse or whether any of them is linked to the party. They do not carry a statement from Mammootty about the latest round, and no complaint to the police is mentioned. Govindan's statement does not name any person or account, and the reports do not say whether the party will act against any members who took part.
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