Pinarayi Vijayan’s tea remark critical of students accused under UAPA comes full circle

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A four-word political memory has come back to haunt Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and his family.

Allan Shuaib, one of the accused in the sensational Pantheerankavu UAPA case, has revived the former Chief Minister’s old “tea” remark in a cryptic Facebook post targeting Mr. Vijayan, his daughter, T. Veena, and son-in-law, P.A. Mohamed Riyas.

“I have only this to tell Pinarayi Vijayan, Riyas and Veena: You did not go there to have tea?” Mr. Shuaib wrote.

The post came amid the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s latest move in the CMRL-Exalogic case involving alleged financial transactions linked to Ms. Veena’s company. The ED has sought action under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Riyas based on its findings.

Mr. Shuaib’s one-line post quickly drew attention on social media, with many praising him for turning Mr. Vijayan’s own words back on him. Some described it as a fitting reply, while others said Mr. Shuaib had every right to use the phrase after what happened to him in the UAPA case.

The reference goes back to November 2019, when Mr. Shuaib and his friend Thaha Fazal, both students then, were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on allegations of Maoist links. The arrests triggered a political controversy, including within sections of the CPI(M), as the students were SFI activists.

When Mr. Vijayan as Chief Minister was asked about the arrests, he defended the police action by saying the two had not been picked up while they were out “to have tea”, but over their alleged Maoist links.

The case was later handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Mr. Shuaib and Mr. Fazal spent a prolonged period in jail before securing bail.

Social critic M.N. Karassery described Mr. Shuaib’s post as “poetic justice”.

“What goes around comes around,” Mr. Karassery said, citing the political reversals faced by former Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar and P.C. George. He said Mr. Vijayan was now getting a taste of the consequences of his own actions.

“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. That is a universal theory,” he said.

Mr. Karassery also criticised Mr. Vijayan’s handling of alleged Maoist cases and said the Congress should have worked harder to ensure his defeat in the Assembly elections.

His comments went beyond Mr. Shuaib’s post, extending to the electoral fortunes of Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Riyas. He said a stronger opponent could have defeated Mr. Vijayan in Dharmadam and argued that Mr. Riyas could also have been defeated in Beypore had a stronger candidate contested against him.

Mr. Shuaib’s post contained no explanation or political argument. It simply borrowed a phrase from a controversy that once put him on the receiving end of state power.

This time, the tea remark was served back.

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