CPM rule contributes to violence in Kannur

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, CPI(M) MLA from Thalassery, which has been in the whirlpool of political terror for almost the past three decades, said the other day that all steps had been taken to restore peace in the area that saw brutal murders of six young men in two days. But people of Kannur district, who have witnessed such gruesome acts of violence for quite long and such statements from Ministers, are not ready to believe him. In a sense, they don’t believe anybody when it comes to claims on restoration of peace.

Kuttappan (name not real) of Vadiyil Peedika, who has been driving buses and cars for the past 30 years in Thalassery area, is convinced that the opposing camps in the killing fields of Kannur will never realise the meaning of peace. “I have seen how they plan to kill people. I have seen how brutally they kill people. They don’t look at the faces of the young men they kill. The killer and the killed are in most cases neighbours or even relatives,” says Kuttappan.

Not all in Kannur think like Kuttappan. Ramesh (name not real) from the same place says he would blame the CPI(M) more than the RSS-BJP combine for the political history of murders of Kannur. “I have watched that Kannur, especially Thalassery and Koothuparambu, turn red with blood whenever the LDF headed by the CPI(M) comes to power. There is a clear link between power and violence in Kannur,” he says.

“This has nothing to do with communism, class war or the so-called anti-communal sentiment. The basic cause of the recurring violence in Kannur is plain terror with which the CPI(M) wants to keep the area under its control. This rule-by-violence practice is in force there always, but it finds actual manifestation when the CPI(M) comes to power,” Ramesh says.

Unbiased people of Kannur say that this could be the only place in the world where violence is not based on a cause. “There is no need for a reason for any murder or violence here. You will think violence erupts all by itself, and in almost all cases this is true also,” said Mani from East Palayad.

Mani, who is a former DYFI activist, said the CPI(M) here, controlled by people like State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, district secretary P Sasi, Koothuparambu MLA P Jayarajan, central committee member EP Jayarajan, etc, “all known for their affinity to violence”, was finding its strength through violence.

“Every communist knows the meaning of liberated villages. But the concept has a different meaning in Kannur. Here, it means a village where the communists make bombs, conspire to attack adversaries and train for violence,” said Mani.

People like Mani and Kuttappan say that there is no surprise if the BJP-RSS is gaining strength in this area. “The social repression practiced by the CPI(M) is so intense that anybody who does not like it will have to identify with some other force. Here it is mainly the BJP or RSS,” Mani adds.

The general opinion is that whenever the CPI(M) comes to power, there will be hasty reshuffles in the police force here. The aim of this is to place trusted officers and personnel in Kannur. “Once this is done, it is easy for the comrades to take over the district,” Ramesh says.

That the violent incidents are results of spontaneous reactions is absurd, people of Thalassery say. “My children are not into any political party,” says Syamala, a mother of three, whose elder son is a computer professional in Tirur, Malappuram. “But I know at least half a dozen mothers who have lost their sons in violence in this Koothuparamba area alone. They were not killed in attacks by irate mobs. They were all killed in meticulously planned attacks. And in all the cases, the murders were committed by specially trained groups. But when the police come to arrest people, there will always be some “willing comrades” to go with them,” said Syamala.

Leaders of other parties like the Congress and the Muslim League have been demanding strict action against such political terror gangs, “but the CPI(M) has succeeded in avoiding such crack-downs,” says the mother.

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