Vadikkal Ramakrishnan is the first Balidani (martyr) of RSS in Kerala, who was stabbed to death by the CPM thugs on April 28, 1969. Ramakrishnan is survived by his wife, Leela. His brother Sumesh remembers that Ramakrishnan was hardly 26 year old when Communist terrorists murdered him for being a swayamsevak in a Communist Party village Vadikkal. Even though it has been 47 years since her husband was taken away from her life by communists, she is still living in the memories of his husband.
A poor helpless small woman with eyes full of fear and agony hesitantly narrated her story. “He was a caring man but very short tempered. He would spend most of the time in social activities and RSS work. He drew many new swayamsevaks to Shakha especially from communist families.”
Sumesh has not seen his elder brother but he grew up listening to the stories of his brother. He says, “Everybody would say my brother was a very brave man with a well-built body. Sumesh recounted the brutal attack on his brother. In a group, they went to visit a party worker thrashed by the CPM workers. On the way, by around 3 pm, a gang suddenly surrounded Ramakrishnan and tried to attack him. Ramakrishnan, an exponent in Kerala’s indigenous martial art Kalari, fought back tooth and nail but was thrown down with a stone and hacked in the belly with an axe.
Leela was unaware of this happening. She recalled the cursed day, “As usual I was working at home in our bakery unit. Suddenly I saw a panicked crowd was running along the road. Our father rushed. He saw him in a pool of blood. His father and a relative along with some friends took him to the hospital.” He died after a few days.
Leela says, “Two three eyewitnesses are still alive but they did not dare to give the testimony. Maman Vasu, a criminal who was an accused in several other murder cases, was one of the murderers.” The case was later written off by the court due to the lack of evidence. “Being a backward family, it was almost impossible for us to fight against the mighty CPM,” they said. Pinarayi Vijayan, now a Politburo member was one of the accused in the case. When asked about the remaining life, Leela raised her face and gazed at the two parallel railway lines run through in front of her house. The silence was deafening. n
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