CPM-dominated Kannur sitting on a powder-keg

After the murder of two BJP workers at New Mahe allegedly by a CPI(M) killer gang on May 28 and three days of widespread violence and looting from the very next day by Marxist marauders in the Thalipparambu area, an uneasy calm is prevailing in the traditionally violence-prone areas of Kannur, known as the communist killing field of Kerala.

Even top police officials admit that violence might erupt any moment in the sensitive areas and they do not rule out the possibility of tragic incidents in the most unexpected places also as in the case of New Mahe, which had remained relatively calm even in situations when unrest had peaked in the district in the past. They are also getting unconfirmed Intelligence reports of systematic preparation by the Marxists for surprise attacks on traditional foes like the BJP and the Muslim League.

Two rounds of talks have already been held for restoring peace in Kannur district but both ended in fiasco as the BJP and RSS, the aggrieved parties, boycotted the meets saying discussions meant nothing in the absence of Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, a CPI(M) Politbureau member whom they hold responsible for the twin murder. New Mahe comes under the Thalassery constituency represented by Kodiyeri in the Assembly.

Speaking to the Press, senior BJP leader CK Padmanabhan held Kodiyeri directly responsible for the violence in the Thalassery area. Stating that Kannur was sitting on a volcano waiting to erupt, Padmanabhan said that the Home Minister was the prime accused in the violence. “This is the time for the authorities to act. But the Home Minister is acting entirely irresponsibly,” he said, adding that Kodiyeri should bear in mind the consequences of authorities’ inaction in such situations in the past.

“Four decades of political violence in Kannur have left hundreds of people dead and many more maimed for life and almost all of them were from poor families. In all those incidents, the CPI(M) had invariably been on one side. Places like Panur and Koothuparambu have become villages of the martyrs and the maimed. It is a pity that they don’t learn anything,” said Sasidharan, a college employee from Dharmadam, who had seen brutal murder happening in front of him way back in 1980.

The police have for the first time come across the startling fact that “quotation gangs” (hired hoodlums) are being put into use in killing missions. They have found out that Shamal (23), arrested in the case related to the murder of two BJP workers in New Mahe last week, is a ‘professional’ goon. He was prime accused in a case of kidnapping a person from Kathirur village in last September. “This is a shocking revelation for us. If professional goons are being deliberately used for political attacks, it would have worse consequences,” said a top police official.

But BJP-RSS workers say that there is nothing new in this information. Thy say that the CPI(M) has always been using squads of persons specially trained in the “art of killing” for murder missions for the past many years. “The police also know this. However, they cannot take proper action against the actual culprits because of the political clout of the Marxists,” said a BJP functionary.

Policemen in Thalassery told The Pioneer that they were anticipating worse incidents of violence in the coming days. They pointed out that raids following violence normally used to yield weapons and bombs but this time this had not happened. “Among other things, this also indicates that the murder in New Mahe was perhaps not an isolated incident. That is what experience tells me,” a Sub-Inspector of police said.

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