‘Even a dog will not look that way’

IF IT had not been Sandeep’s house, not even a dog would have glanced that way.” That is what Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan had to say on Monday about the home of national hero (Major) Sandeep Unnikrishnan of the NSG, who laid down his life fighting Mumbai terrorists.

A day after Sandeep’s father, K. Unnikrishnan, refused to receive Achuthanandan at his Bangalore residence, the CM’s forcible entry threatened to boil into a major political row. To make matters worse, the CPM leader publicly lashed out at the martyr’s father on Monday. “He says the Karnataka CM came in the morning itself and that the Kerala CM has ignored him. Is there a rule that the CMs of Kerala and Karnataka should be there at the same time? A soldier’s father should have had the sense to understand that,” Achuthanandan said on television.

On Sunday, the Kerala CM and his home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan went to Sandeep’s house to offer their condolences to his family, who hail from Kozhikode in north Kerala. But Sandeep’s father had earlier informed protocol officials the Kerala leaders were not welcome.

When the duo still landed at his door, an angry Unnikrishnan blocked their way. But as he was telling Balakrishnan he won’t let them enter, Achuthanandan sneaked into the house and his securitymen locked the door from inside, keeping Unnikrishnan out. Achuthanandan “briefly consoled” the mourning mother — who also refused to talk to him — before catching the next flight to Kerala.

On Monday, Unnikrishnan, a retired employee of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said he was angry with the leaders of his native state trying to derive political capital out of his son’s martyrdom. “Sandeep disliked anything that comes out of compulsion or under duress. Television channels were showing protests in Kerala over the belated response to my son’s martyrdom. As these two were coming here under that pressure, I refused to meet them,” Unnikrishnan said.

“When I had told protocol officials I won’t receive them, they had assured me the visit would no longer take place. That is why I responded badly when I saw them at my house despite my request.” Unnikrishnan, who had shown unusual emotional restraint for three days after his only son’s death, burst into tears as he spoke. His relatives here said he was upset that no Kerala government representative had attended Sandeep’s funeral. “Several national and state leaders came to the funeral. It was soothing and consoling for us and I didn’t say I wouldn’t allow politicians in. But this is too much,” Unnikrishnan added.

Achuthanandan’s concern was indeed belated. When news of the commando’s death broke, reporters had approached him for a response. But he just walked away without saying anything. As the protests intensified, he said in New Delhi, “There is a solution for everything.” He reached Bangalore only after a CPM politburo meeting in New Delhi.

:By Ashraf Padanna in Thiruvananthapuram