His Excellency Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, 

We Malayalees, living abroad, humbly request you to involve in providing justice to online news media editor Shajan Scaria and his family, his news media Marunadan Malayali and its staff members and their families.

Shajan Scaria and his online news media Marunadan Malayali are unequivocally the true voice of millions of malayalees who are silenced by government machineries by instilling fear of being reprised and thus deprived the opportunity to speak in public, either on an open platform or least through social media, of the government sponsored atrocities on the weaker sections of the society, money scams and illegal contracts worth several thousand crores on each incident, illegal drugs floating freely to school students as well as terrorist activities making the state as its hub,  breeding ground and exporter to rest of India and abroad.   As a media freelancer, Shajan always took the stand that he doesn’t  have to yield his principles on Fourth Estate to safeguard the vested interest of large advertisers, which in fact gave Shajan a shot himself in the arm, and helped him move quickly ahead in the race.   Among the Kerala media persons, perhaps it is Shajan alone, who has the audacity to let his viewership know without fear of reprisal, about the illegal activities of the corporate leaders, business men, land mafias, drug mafias, bureaucrats, political leaders and terrorist groups whose works are deep rooted in Kerala society, and going on without any hindrance for years with the blessing of the ruling authorities.  

As Shajan’s Marunadan Malayali grew up in viewership worth millions across the globe and by passed several popular media viewership on social media, he has raised to the level of a champion in the industry within Kerala, whom malayalee viewers often depend on to know the facts behind the news, unbiased.  As Shajan grew up in popularity while letting people know what is truly happening in the “Gods Own Country”, it is a fact that Shajan equally has gained very powerful enemies surrounding him; from ruling party MLAs to business men, land and drug mafias and even terrorist groups for “disturbing” them in their activities.  Things turned a twist for Shajan, when these powerful men with the support of authorities united and openly vouched to silence Shajan and destroy his media, his property, his life and even victimize his family members.  

One of the serious crime under Indian Penal Code, enacted in 1989 and updated in 2015, that often end up in the arrest of the accused without a bail is the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Section 3(1) (r )  of the Act applies to situations where a person, who is not a member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe, intentionally  insults or intimidates with the intent to humiliate a member of such a community in public view. A person accused of committing the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) crime can be denied bail upon arrest and the interesting point is that the judge don’t have to provide a reason for denying the bail nor consider the prima facie evidence whether the accused has committed the crime or not when considering the bail application.   Notably under this penal code, only about 20% of the accused are found to have committed the crime and 80% of them are acquitted on trial with no evidence of committing such a crime.

Shajan has recently aired a news article in his online news media about a ruling party MLA, stating how he has amassed wealth worth millions of rupees within a short  period of time after becoming MLA and as its evidence has pointed out what was this MLA’s net asset seven years before and what is it worth at  present.  Shajan has not mentioned in his news whether this MLA belongs to any particular caste or community but his news was only focused on how a politician had amassed such a heap of money in a very short time.   The opponents of Shajan teamed up and used this news as their weapon, falsely accusing and framing Shajan of intentionally humiliating the MLA and committing the crime of atrocities towards SC/ST because the MLA that Shajan referred to in his news belongs to an SC/ST community.  Despite Shajan’s claim before the court that the video aired did not mention the caste or community of the MLA, the court has denied bail and Shajan, apprehensive of the arrest, is presently moving his bail application at the Supreme Court, which will be heard very soon.  It is a great relief for Shajan to note that the Supreme Court bench of Justice A K Goel and UU Lalit on March 20, 2018, while acknowledging the abuse of law of arrest in cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act) said: “The legislature never intended to use the Atrocities Act as an instrument to blackmail or to wreak personal vengeance nor was it intended to deter public servants from performing their bona fide duties.”

Needless to say our  “Gods Own Country” is now going through an unparalleled pathetic state.  Illicit money and unbridled political power are teaming up to take the lives and property of innocent malayalees who have no choice but to live under fear and become silent observers of the atrocities happening around them. 

Shajan Scaria as a courageous media person has now elevated to the position of freedom fighter Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai (1878-1916), who potentially used his newspaper “Swadeshabhimani”, against the oppressive Brtisihers and the autocratic State of Travancore as well as a tool for social transformation. His courageous actions on being the mouthpiece of the public, resulted in the confiscation of his newspaper, his arrest and exile from the country.  History may repeat here.  Is Shajan Scaria’s fate same as that of Swadeshabimani Ramakrishna Pillai?

It is our legal and moral duty to support Shajan Scaria and his online news media as we, malayalees are interested to hear the truth, only the unbiased, unbridled truth on news items.