Butchers of Kannur are pretending to be apostles of peace and non-violence. The party notorious for killing and maiming innocent people for their adhering to a social philosophy and ideology different from theirs is shouting from the top of the CPM headquarters – the very place at which they had stored stones and other missiles to teach a lesson to peaceful demonstrators – that their office was ?attacked? and accusing RSS-BJP of violating democratic norms. Lies, even if spread with the willing cooperation of left-oriented media houses, have no legs to stand on. There are a lot of TV clippings to show that stones were thrown at the demonstrators from the terrace of the CPM headquarters. Chairs and other pieces of furniture thrown at the demonstrators from the windows of the multi-storey building lay scattered on the road as a proof of Communist thuggery. Did the pro-RSS demonstrators got to the roof to throw stones at their own colleagues assembled outside the building? The CPM leaders that instigated their cadres to chase away the demonstrators by force can'tbe absolved of the responsibility of violence during the demonstration, their protests to the contrary on the floor of Parliament notwithstanding. Will Delhi Police please explain why no FIR was registered against them despite repeated appeals by the BJP?
Several hundred citizens belonging to BJP, Hindu Manch and several other Hindu outfits had assembled outside the New Delhi headquarters of the CPM to lodge a strong protest against the recent killing of five Sangh swayamsevaks in Kannur district. It was slated to be a peaceful expression of anger and disgust by the people of national capital against the atrocities committed by CPM cadres. The timing was perfect. The CPM central committee was meeting that day, Kerala CM was expected to be participating in the meeting, and there was adequate media presence outside the CPM headquarters. The organisers of the protest say their purpose was to hold a symbolic protest to focus national attention on the mayhem created by CPM goons in killing fields of Kannur. The citizens – many of them in their 40s and 50s – were taken aback when they were greeted by stones thrown at them from the terrace of the building. Soon, CPM cadres started hitting them with missiles from the windows of the office building. They say they saw top CPM leaders – Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yachuri – inciting their cadres. The Rapid Action Force soon arrived and got into action. They cane charged and fired tear gas shells injuring several protestors. A section of the crowd retaliated and threw back the stones hurled at them. There were injuries on both sides, demonstrators being the worse sufferers. Several of them have been arrested by the police on false charges.
Yachuri wailed about the damage caused to his car in the clash between demonstrators and CPM cadres. The comrade has no time to worry about the fate of those attacked by his goons in Kerala. Dehli Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, went to absurd lengths to woo the Communists with whose support her party is in power at the Centre. She made the totally false and motivated allegation that leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Jagdish Mukhi, had carried stones in his official car. No one expects a person holding such a high position to accuse her political opponents of such unthinkable crimes. She should either prove the charge or tender a public apology to the BJP leader. Such wild allegations need to be properly investigated. It is, therefore, imperative that a transparent and independent enquiry be ordered into the unfortunate incidents outside CPM headquarters. There were noisy scenes and verbal clashes in both Houses of Parliament over the violence. BJP benches put the comrades in the dock over violence in Kerala. Communists and Congressmen shed tears over the Delhi incident conveniently forgetting that they were the ones to set precedents in this regard. It were these parties that had held violent demonstrations outside the BJP headquarters in the wake of the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya. Let the political class arrive at a consensus not to hold demonstrations outside the offices of political parties and cultural organisations to avoid unnecessary bitterness.
Misuse of police and the administration by the CPM in West Bengal is well documented in books and has been widely reported in the media, particularly after Nandigram. Kerala is no exception. There is spurt in the killing spree every time the CPM returns to power. Intolerant of dissent as the Communists are, they were in jitters when they found a large number of CPM cadres disillusioned with Marxism and communist methodology drifting towards the RSS because of latter'snationalist ideology and spirit of selfless service. Unlike in most other states where RSS is stronger among urban middle classes, in Kerala it took strong roots among fishermen in coastal areas. RSS attracting a large number of CPM cadres belonging to poorer sections of the society was totally unpalatable to the Communists. They resorted to threats and abuses to check the drift. When this did not work, the Communist goons resorted to physical attacks. A large number of RSS workers were maimed and killed. The RSS suffered in silence hoping that the guilty would be brought to justice. That did not happen. The police rarely arrested the culprits. When it did, prosecuting agency saw to it that none was punished. Ultimately, people, including friends and relatives of victims, lost patience and retaliated. Rest is history.
Tellicherry – the home town of P Vijyan , CPM State Secretary, and K. Blakrishnan, the Home Minister – has a history of attacks on RSS workers. Fifty five RSS-BJP workers of this area lost their lives in attacks by CPM goons during the past four decades. It is widely believed that Vijayan and Balakrishnan played a major role in converting the town and its neighbourhood into killing fields.
Citizens? protests in Delhi and other parts of the country have served the purpose of focusing national attention on the gruesome happenings. Meanwhile nothing will be lost in making yet another effort to bring the warring groups to the negotiating table. RSS-BJP leaders had in the past made such moves that brought peace to the area, though temporarily. One only hopes and prays that peace returns to the area that had suffered long because of violence and counter violence.
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