The strange account of what has taken place between the late Naveen Babu, ADM in Kannur, who resorted to an extreme step, and P.P. Divya, the then-Kannur District Panchayat President, who is facing legal action in connection with the suicide of Naveen Babu has disappointed greatly the public conscience about the nasty tug of war between bureaucrats and politicians
Raju G. Mendez
A hero in himself, couldn’t please everyone, he thought duty his prime role as an official and pointed out the necessity of discipline and obedience to the law, his forte.
But the intense pain rushed through him and the anger, and wordless despair had seen no boundaries.
However, all his principles ended with Naveen Babu himself. A suicide, an essence of nonsense! The aftermath of indiscrete and high-mouthed expression of words on a wrong occasion by P.P. Divya.
The power of words is so immense that it has the ability to shape our lives, beliefs, and behaviors. Words can be used either to build people up or tear them down, and can have a powerful emotional impact by both equally to the ears they fall in. Thus the sharp weapon of words that came out of the political recalcitrance of P.P. Divya has literally taken away the valuable life of a meek and mild person Naveen Babu who used to be a pertinacious ADM, a forebearing, affectionate father of two daughters, a loving husband and a trustworthy friend to others as told by almost everyone who knew him. The allegation against him is yet to be proved.
Mundane death is the end of life on the empirical level; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. In that sense, he is no more. The mortal remains are the only hope for the bereft, meant for cremation as a part of customary rituals.
Naveen Babu thought about giving his life up, due to ignominy that led to depression and mental agony, instigated by baseless denigration and humiliation from the contaminated mind of P.P. Divya in front of his colleagues. He was about to reach his homeland in days to be at the service of his natives in the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala. He might have refused a lot of offers of materialistic benefit gracefully during his stint, to have kept his soul pristine. May be! his conscience couldn’t tolerate the absurdity from the part of political domination. His forte as an official was a sign of his non-corrupt ethos. Had he not taken such an extreme step, the whole picture would have been different. We would blindly mistake a ‘Shurpanaka’ for a real gentle lady.
‘Child is Father of the man’ (Wordsworth). But once the innocence of a child makes a nest in a mature person, it is life-threatening. That’s what was the curse upon Naveen Babu. A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction” (Oscar Wilde)
But P.P. Divya, a lady of connivances, happened to be Kannur District Panchayat President, an unsolicited person just like a mosquito, on an auspicious occasion of giving send-off to an official whom even his superior officers including the Collectors admired, thrusted herself into and occupied herself just beside the Collector of the district Arun K. Vijayan, was an impertinence of an action and then in disdain changing her countenance to an expression fluctuating in almost demonic, entertained herself with the easiness of killing flies, plunged herself in her own brutal heart of a mediocre speech, an insensible lady of political clout to satisfy herself hoping to devour the blood that had to be shed. Unfortunately, to our dismay, that has been shed to her satisfaction. When Naveen couldn’t find himself in the deeper sense of the meaning of life, he detached himself from this world of nonsense.
Thus, the law of the land should put her mettle to the proof in time, which is a need of the society. However, we would not be fooled as it has been the practice of pragmatic politicians!
Pertinacity which has often endangered Naveen’s life itself by equally dealing with everyone sticking with the yardsticks of the law, no matter what, despite difficulties or oppositions of any sort, gave him a deadly farewell. He was a man of persistent determination that involved a mix of courage, conviction, and a little stubbornness. He challenged his principal enemies of corruption assuming himself safe before the law.
Naveen didn’t get time to ask, as Caesar had asked his friend, “You too, Brutus?” A Common Pact by Shakespeare. Even before that, Naveen’s soul had bid goodbye to this world of absurdity.
Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sabhit defines an abettor as a person who encourages or assists another person to commit a crime or an act that is considered an offence. As his body was brought back to his residence in Malayalapuzha here, police in Kannur have charged Ms. Divya with abetment to suicide under section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhit.
The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has registered a case in connection with the death of Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu, who allegedly took his own life following allegations of corruption by Kannur district panchayat president P.P. Divya. The incident reportedly occurred after Ms. Divya accused Naveen of corruption during an uninvited appearance at a farewell event organised for him.
The SHRC has directed the Kannur District Collector and the District Police Chief to investigate the complaint and submit their findings within two weeks. The case is scheduled for a hearing at the Kannur Government Guest House on November 19.
The complaint, filed by human rights activist V. Devdas, claims that the actions of the district panchayat president were “illegal” and demands compensation for Naveen’s family, along with employment opportunities for his dependents.
Revenue Minister K. Rajan described Naveen as an “honest and capable” officer, noting that the government had never received any complaints against him. “He was someone who could be trusted with responsibility,” the minister said. He added that he has requested a preliminary report from District Collector Arun K. Vijayan on the incident. The minister also urged political leaders to exercise restraint in their public interaction. Why?
However, we all know that it is hardly possible to get justice done judiciously. The only possible thing for us to remind ourselves is that Naveen Babu had never lived in this world!
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive.” Tupac Shakur (American rapper)
( Raju G. Mendez is a language and life skills trainer, writer, and journalist based in Thiruvananthapuram )
