Is Kerala the most politically violent state?

8 years ago

Auto driver, E K Biju, was allegedly hacked by CPM workers in Kannur earlier this month. Image Courtesy: The Indian Express

Deepu Aby Varghese folomojo staff

Keralites, who are known to be both academically and politically literate, have long witnessed politically triggered violence that resulted in the death of ‘political foes’. Even though it isn’t exactly a popularity contest, the long years of the CPM-RSS rivalry (which dates back to 1970s) stands out.

Internecine political violence in the state cannot be shunned either. T Chandrasekharan was brutally murdered when divisions within the Marxist ideology clashed in Kannur.

Kannur—considered the theatre of communist movement in Kerala—has seen 57 politically motivated murders between 1997 and 2012 according to official police records.

The state readies itself for election in the backdrop of frequent pathological murders—the latest was the murder of a 28-year-old Youth Congress worker in Alappuzha on Tuesday.

Also read: Killer politics of RSS, CPM in Kannur claims another life

CPM’s DYFI (youth wing) activists allegedly woke up Sunil Kumar at 2 a. m. on Tuesday, chased him out of the house and hacked him to death. The police in Alappuzha arrested four DYFI activists in connection with the heinous crime.

Tension in the state capital escalated when BJP and CPM workers clashed late on Monday followed by a ‘hartal’ on Tuesday. Reportedly 30 people were injured during the clash and one person is in critical condition.

Both CPM and RSS have political ideologies that seem ‘well’ laid out for people. They continue to organize a following of committed and motivated workers who are ready to do anything at any time. One can even call them party henchmen who stalk, confront and bludgeon renegades and critics.

The history of violence in Kerala substantiates this argument.

In December 1996, CPM worker Sunil Kumar was beheaded by assailants when he was asleep. The following morning Sunil’s hand was found hanging on a flagpole 500 meters away from his residence in Kollam.

In 1997, when E K Nayanar was in power, four students from Parumala Devaswom College drowned in river after they tried to outrun CPM ‘goons’ who had chased them.

Are the parties’ political expansion agendas founded on murderous tactics? One may agree.

No individual in Kerala can forget school teacher K T Jayakrishnan’s cold-blooded murder in Kannur in 1997. Jayakrishnan, who was associated with RSS, was brutally murdered by CPM workers in front of his sixth standard class of the Mokeri East Upper Primary school near Panur in Kannur.

It is reported that the CPM workers executed Jayakrishnan in response to the actions of the RSS workers who had earlier stabbed the present CPM district secretary P Jayarajan. Several years later, in 2014, Elanthottathil Manoj or Kathiroor Manoj of the RSS fame and another accused in the Jayarajan case, fell prey to the retaliatory violence. Jayarajan is currently facing judicial trial for allegedly masterminding Manoj’s murder.

More recently, in February 2016, RSS worker P V Sujith was hacked to death. Another BJP worker E K Biju was hacked in front of school children in Chokli, Kannur, earlier this month. The police has held CPM workers in the area responsible for these crimes.

One can also say that the so called progressive political legacy of the state was churned from the blood of hundreds of people. Based on unofficial records, there have been at least 300 politically motivated murders in the state since 1970.

Will the souls of these ‘partymen’, who were victims to retaliatory political violence, agree to being listed as ‘martyrs’ by either of these parties?

Footnote: Ironically, despite an abhorrent track record, both CPM and BJP largely hope to make an impact in the upcoming assembly elections. CPM hopes to come back into power through coalition with LDF. Meanwhile, BJP seems positive about opening its account in the state. They never fail to find interested takers.