Kannur-Peace rallies fuelling tension

KANNUR: Even the `fight for peace’ could cause tension in Kannur.

And you can’t see the unique phenomenon anywhere else. Still, this is happening here, with a determined CPM and an equally belligerent Sangh Parivar taking out peace processions. There was a deep sigh of relief when Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan himself took the initiative in holding an all-party meet more than two weeks ago to put an end to the saga of political killings here.

The death of seven people in a short span of two weeks in an area forming only one-third of the whole district was enough to make everyone think of restoring peace. The Chief Minister’s passion for peace found a lot of support among the general public. As Achuthanandan descended on Kannur with Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in whose homeland it all had been happening, peace broke out amid the heightening tension.

The peace-pact laboriously worked out at the Collectorate conference hall, far from the killing fields of Thalassery, was acceptable to all at the all-party political meet. Virtually every political party had finished the game of pinning the blame on the other before signing the peace pact. Nobody forgot anything, and nobody wanted to forgive anyone.

And then started the campaign for peace! The CPM took the lead in holding peace processions. The processions started from various centres and traversed almost all the sensitive regions in the district. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the message of peace that they were trying to take to the people. In fact, the peace processions formed just another political campaign designed to fuel the people further for violence.

The slogans and speeches of politicians were highly provocative. While defending themselves, the CPM leaders in the forefront of the peace campaign turned more aggressive than ever. Fortunately for the ruling CPM, there were no violent clashes with the rival Sangh Parivar at least when the peace processions were in progress.

Now it is the turn of the Sangh Parivar to organise peace campaigns. The `human rights protection processions’ being organised by it is scheduled to take off on Friday. The BJP and the RSS leaders had already declared that the CPM leadership had backed out of the promises given by it at the peace meet convened by the Chief Minister. They wanted the freedom to hold organisational activities, including the right to hold `Sakhas’ in the CPM strongholds. The CPM hadn’t moved from its earlier undemocratic stand, stated the Sangh Parivar leadership.

Whether the peace processions of the BJP-RSS would be conducive to peace or incidentfree is yet to be watched.

Meanwhile, the observations relating to the impartiality of police investigations and the status of prosecutions in cases of violence in Kannur district made by the High Court recently had given another turn to the saga of political killings here.

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