Saddam

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov. 11: “Save Saddam, the light of the world; Don’t kill him; Saddam is hero, Bush zero; I love you Saddam…”

The hail of slogans is not from Iraqis in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit. These are SMS messages appearing on People, a Kerala TV channel that is known to be pro-CPM and has been running a “save Saddam campaign”.

None of the other channels — or even CPM-owned publications — has undertaken anything similar, except for conducting discussions and debates.

Many of the messages are from members of CPM branch committees, whose SMSes cite their party affiliation.

A message this reporter sent, “Haul Saddam before international court”, wasn’t carried.

“There must be a message clog. We’ll carry it. We’ll forward all mails and messages to world leaders, including George Bush and Manmohan Singh,” said John Brittas, the channel’s managing director.

The channel is known to beam pro-CPM programmes and backs the party during elections. Brittas is a CPM member and former correspondent of party mouthpiece Deshabhimani.

“We’ve taken a biased stand since the fight is against imperialism,” Brittas added. “Most messages are in the same vein since Malayalees have a tendency to sympathise with the fall guy.”

The messages fetch the channel Rs 2 apiece and the revenue is shared with the service provider.

“The thrust of the campaign is against the general tenor of the public debate on the subject in Kerala, which has focused on the flawed trial and the US occupation of Iraq. We demand a convincing retrial or a trial by an international tribunal at the appellate stage,” said Prof Ninan Koshy, former director of international affairs with the Geneva-based World Council of Churches.

Former Naxalite K. Venu said: “The CPM tries to project the image of a protector of Muslims. The late E.M.S. Namboodiripad had used the Saddam-versus-Bush card during the district council elections in 1990 and the CPM had swept the polls.”

The CPM leadership has asked branch committees to hold public meetings against the death sentence awarded to Saddam. Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan has branded the Prime Minister “shameless” for not protesting against the sentence.