The victory celebrations are obvious but the series of post-poll violence is a clear sign of endorsing Kannur Model of killings all over Kerala. The question is, with the rise of BJP as a political force, can they afford to do so for long…
Pradeep Krishnan
The people of Kerala have given their verdict. Though the number of seats looks decisively in favour of the Left, the growth in BJP’s vote share is certainly scary for both the UDF and LDF. The obvious response seems to be another series of violence.
The Communists as usual did not waste even a single day in initiating their innings of violence after the victory in the state Assembly elections of 2016 and exhibited the symptoms of what is in store for Kerala, especially for RSS-BJP workers. Almost all victory celebrations of CPM workers is marred by intolerant action of attacks and violence. The coronation of deterministic face of Communism, Pinarayi Vijayan, who himself endorsed fascist style functioning against the opposition parties did not help much in ensuring the peace in ‘God’s Own Country.’ As soon as election results were announced and it became evident that the CPM led LDF is coming to power in Kerala, the Marxists unleashed violence in several parts of the State, particularly in Kannur and Thrissur districts, where NDA has polled more than 15 per cent votes.
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First Pinarayi Vijayan himself tried to put blame on RSS for accidental blast in the CPM victory celebrations at Pinarayi, the party village of the Chief Minister himself. Providing a chilling trailer of what life under the just elected LDF regime would be like for ordinary people, CPM workers bludgeoned to death 33 year old BJP worker Pramod in Thrissur District of Kerala. The BJP worker, who sustained grievous wounds inflicted by Marxist marauder, has succumbed to his injuries. 33 year old Pramod was brutally attacked in the Marxist sponsored strife in Kayappamangalam, following victory of the local LDF candidate. According to eye witnesses, following the victory of Kaippamagalam LDF candidate ET Tyson, gang of Marxist goons unleashed terror on a group of BJP Karyakartas, under the guise of victory celebrations. “The gang arrived in a tipper lorry and started bashing up Pramod and others who were with him. Pramod was bludgeoned with bricks, which led to head injury,” said eye witnesses under condition of anonymity. This is another murder in a decade’s long reign of terror unleashed by the Marxist ‘revolutionary’ comrades against the people of Kerala, who dare to support any ideology other than their own. Not surprisingly, it is treated as ‘routine political
squabbling’ by secular-liberal national media and not a case of ‘fascist intolerance’.
This time, senior leaders of BJP have taken serious note of this long-standing persecution of activists in Kerala. A BJP delegation under the leadership of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari met President Pranab Mukherjee on May 22 and expressed their concern over the post-poll violence in Kerala. They also appealed the President to look into the matter in which a BJP party worker was killed by CPM workers during the ‘celebration’ rally in Idavilangu in Kerala on May 19, 2016.
Although voting in Kerala went without any major violent incidents, the attack on KK Rama, a candidate of Revolutionary Marxist Party, splintered communist group, in the Vadakara constituency and the widow of a slain rebel Communist leader TP Chandrasekharan, on the last day of the campaign stood out as a grim reminder of the reality of political violence in the state.
Even during the polling, intimidation and violence by CPM workers was a routine. The BJP has demanded the arrest of Trikaripur MLA K Kunhiraman in connection with the assault of two BJP booth agents at Chathamath in Nileshwaram on polling day. In the video, Kunhiraman is seeing waving a white paper and saying, “they have written and given that they would not indulge in political work” apparently to pacify the CPM mob. Unsatisfied, the mob made the two BJP workers repeat the words amid shouting of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’.”
In northern Malabar CPM had kicked off a series of violence against BJP-RSS men even during the election campaign. They started it by destroying the posters, boards and flexes of BJP during those days in Dharmadom constituency of CPM supremo Pinarayi Vijayan. Police did not interfere. Puthenkandam is a tiny place in Pinarayi, a party village, where even a crow cannot fly sans CPM’s permission. Lot of close relatives of Vijayan joined BJP and RSS. They cannot tolerate such a situation!
Once the counting was over, BJP’s flags and flag posts, boards and flexes were destroyed throughout Dharmadom constituency. Bombs were hurled at BJP workers. Turning accident into attack by a BJP worker, CPM goons immediately destroyed 23 houses and 15 motor bikes of BJP workers. Fifteen motor bikes of BJP workers were destroyed. Most of them were thrown into wells of BJP workers’ homes. Bags of hairs were brought by the criminals from the barber shops and hairs were dumped into the wells along with other sorts of wastes; now, to clean those wells is a Herculean task. Until they are cleaned, people of those houses cannot have drinking water. Years back, one Sangh worker Uthaman was killed while driving a bus in Iritti. Now, his wife’s house in Pinarayi is totally destroyed. Prominent BJP worker Renjith was attacked and seriously injured.
In Kodakkalam booth area in Thalassery constituency, booth agent Ramesh was attacked, because he caught a fake CPM voter. In Mattama, a milk marketing society was completely destroyed. Sree Narayan Guru Jayanti office is also destroyed. In Kolikkadavu, several swayamsevaks are hospitalised. In Kolasserry, RSS Mandal Shareerik Pramukh’s house bombed and destroyed. In Kathiroor CPM criminals came on motor bikes and bombed; two swayamsevaks are hospitalised.
In Uduma constituency, Kasargod District, BJP booth agent was tortured and forced, by hundreds of CPM men led by MLA Kunjiraman, to give in writing, that he would not do BJP work in that area when the polling was going on. They attacked lot of shops and establishments. One big shop selling pipes and cements were totally destroyed. Hundreds of bags of cement were destroyed by tearing and wetting them by showering water through hoses. House of Govindan, brother of a former Sangh Pracharak, was destroyed. The attackers used bags of beer bottles to break the window glasses. A major tailoring centre and its machines were totally destroyed; reason simple: it is run by the sister-in-law of a BJP worker! A BJP worker from Nadapuram, Kozhikkode, is under treatment in Palakkad since his leg is seriously injured due to heavy hacking.
PP Sureshbabu, RSS Sambhag Karyavah, Malabar region said, despite the aforementioned CPM atrocities, Sangh and BJP workers still stick on to the organisation and ideology and carry on the organisational work as they used to do earlier.
Similar incidents have also been reported in the southern part of Kerala. In a heinous attack reported in Haripad, Alappuazha District, CPM tortured a scheduled caste boy and his brother in an inhuman way for attending RSS shakha. Abhilash Krishnan and Abhijith Krishnan are hospitalised. The incident took place in the constituency of the outgoing home minister Ramesh Chennithala.
In Kerala, 267 people related to the RSS were killed in the last 50 years, of which 232 were killed by the CPM. The number of injured – with limbs chopped off, blinded, bedridden due to injuries – is almost six times the number of those murdered. In between clashes, there were open seasons for the brutality of ‘peace’- False cases foisted on BJP/RSS cadres; Police lock ups, beatings and worse. It is not just the RSS that is targeted by the party. The CPM has attacked the Congress, IUML, and even its allies in the LDF – the CPI and the RSP.
The latest in the series of political killings is the killing of Pramod by a gang of 20. As usual, the CPM denied any involvement. But some of the CPM local toughies slip up from time to time. P Jayarajan, a former MLA and a veteran leader from Kannur, who is booked for two political murders in the district, recently admitted that the party does payback when the 'debt' mounts. In a recent interview with NDTV former chief minister VS Achuthanandan also admitted that his party is sometimes forced to pay 'in the same coin'.
Interestingly, the CPM leaders play the victim card and reaffirm that they do not support violence, and at best, only resist it. They say it's the RSS which is attacking them unprovoked. In terms of the number of victims, probably the CPM may have lost more people, but it's certainly not simple resistance, but planned retribution that results in such killings.
The RSS has the same pattern and methodology of work in Kerala as it has all over Bharat. The organisation has consistently worked within the democratic system and tried to take all the sections of society along. Many independent researchers who have studied about the murder politics in Kerala, including the prominent Gandhian thinker Udayabhanu, have approved this fact categorically. However, the CPM in Kerala, after the collapse of communism world over, has chosen arrogance as a philosophy and violence as its tool.
The ground reality is changing now. Not only RSS has wide range of Shakha network in the CPM strongholds but BJP has emerged as a force to reckon with. CPM is well aware of the fact that in the coming days, the party has to face the ideological challenge of nationalist forces, unlike the loose and corrupt opposition in the form of UDF. To rein the possible opposition from credible forces, CPM seems to be using the tested ideological tool ‘violence’. Only time will tell if they can continue to do so with changing texture of Kerala and national politics.
(with inputs from T Satisan, Kochi)
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