The CPM-RSS political war in Kerala must stop
Something is rotten in the state of Kerala. Not content with reducing “God” to an advertising mascot, the professed atheists who rule “God’s own country” seem quite rapidly to be reducing it into a lawless and God-forsaken land.
The shocking recent abduction and molestation of an actor galvanised the public to protest against the menace of “quotation” gangs. These mafia-style criminal squads accept contracts (what in Mumbai is called supari) for tasks ranging from murder to maiming to menacing of targets, for a price, of course.
Believed to meet out instant (in)justice, their writ supposedly runs large in the state, tantamount to a parallel administration.
Disrepute
The killing fields of north Kerala, where internecine political feuding, especially in Kannur, has carried on for 60 years, have also brought the state into disrepute. Citing the breakdown of the administrative machinery, we hear calls to invoke Article 356 of the Constitution to impose President’s Rule.
The vaunted Kerala model is in a shambles: India’s most advanced state on most parameters of the Human Development Index stands all but discredited. The roots of the present crises run deep; for decades, there were tell-tale signs for all to see, but a curious blindness afflicted most observers.
Partly to blame was the incessant Left-liberal propaganda of wonderful Kerala, which blindfolded and befooled us. To begin, incomplete and skewed land reforms allowed plantation owners and certain sections to retain disproportionate wealth.
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| Partly to blame was the incessant Left-liberal propaganda of wonderful Kerala, which blindfolded and befooled us. |
Similarly, while thousands of acres of temple lands were confiscated, appropriated, or brought under Devaswom authority, the same treatment was not meted out to other religious properties. Indeed, it is widely believed that the largest landowners in the state are churches, followed by the Communist Party.
No surprise that in the guise of development, social justice and reform, Left Democratic Front and Congress-led UDF governments, which have alternately ruled the state, pursued divisive and, some would add, anti-Hindu policies. Muslim “minorities”, whose large numbers in many parts of the state make that appellation dubious, have all been included under the OBC umbrella, without regard to sub-group, history, or socio-economic background. They become automatically eligible to educational and employment reservations both in the state and outside it.
Ever since the reconstitution of Kerala in 1956, Left unionism has led to the shutting down of industries and businesses, resulting in significant capital flight or job-losses. State-controlled enterprises, part of socialist production, may have offered cadres and sympathisers employment and patronage, but also drained the resources of the exchequer.
Had it not been for overseas, especially Gulf, remittances, the economy might have been shattered by now. But the exodus of skilled workers has also caused problems, including lonely spouses and dysfunctional families. Kerala has high rates of psychiatric illness and suicide. Indeed, both have made it into Malayalam popular culture as recurrent themes.
Violence
Those who wish to blame the rise of RSS in north Kerala for the escalating political violence in the state will find it difficult to account for well-publicised killings such as that of Comrade TP Chandrasekharan in 2012. Done to death in broad daylight, Chandrasekharan, according to the postmortem report, was slashed 51 times. He lay in a pool of blood on the road for more than an hour before anyone dared to take his body to a hospital.
The irony is that from the age of 18, he had been a member of the CPI(M), serving in multiple capacities and positions, before he broke away to form his own Revolutionary Marxist Party. This “betrayal” the CPI (M) could not tolerate; their party workers murdered him. Several of these were arrested, 12 of them convicted in 2014.
Though he received death threats, he did not seek police protection because according to one report he said, if the CPI(M) decides to kill someone, it would. Evidently, the party brooks no opposition; it seeks to impose its writ by brute force, wiping out political opponents.
Remedy
According to the details put out, more than 200 workers of the RSS have died in the political violence; several hundreds have also been injured. The CPI(M) also has a list of its cadres who suffered death or injury. Clearly, this war must stop.
It is the state’s responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens, regardless of their political affiliations. If it cannot do its job, it should quit or, in the worst case, be dismissed. A better, more lasting, solution could be reached by calling for an immediate truce, followed by better policing, monitoring, and follow-up, with the aid of private security agencies, if required.
Neighbourhood watch committees and self-protection “peace” groups may also be formed to prevent outbreaks of violence. Criminal gangs and elements should be crushed, rather than patronised as extralegal vigilantes to settle political scores. Regular meetings should be held between opposing camps, with senior leaders present, in order to build confidence and trust.
Finally, “party villages” should be opened up to people of all political persuasions, as is only natural in a democracy. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the CPI(M) must take a lead in this in order to save the state, no matter what his past record of alleged participation in political violence might be.
It is incumbent upon him to send the right message and take remedial measures to repair the damage to Kerala before it is too late.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)