Writer theatened by CPI-M youth activists

Payyannur (Kerala), Jan 9 : Writer and journalist Paul Zachariah was Saturday night allegedly threatened by activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) - the youth wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) - after he made critical remarks against it at a function.

Zachariah told IANS that he was here to take part in a book release function and in his speech had mentioned the manner in which the DYFI activists had trapped Congress leader Rajmohan Unnithan with a woman activist.

"The meeting got over around 6.30 p.m and I had reached the hotel where I was staying. And around 8 p.m, along with few other friends of mine, I was about to get into a car to go to the railway station when a group of DYFI activists surrounded us and started abusing us," he said.

According to the writer, they took away the car key and pushed him around, threatening him that if he ever dared to step into Payyannur again, he would not go back alive.

"I kept quiet and after showering us with abuses and heckling us, they left," he added.

Zachariah is considered one of the state's best known fiction writer and is recipient of several awards. He worked as a journalist in Delhi in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Speaking to a TV channel later, he said that he does not intend to file a complaint because he sees "no point in it".

"One thing what we all learned is the real face of the DYFI. It has become more clear what they are and what stuff they are made of," Zachariah, who is now a popular columnist, added.