The political violence that had started on the night of August 28 is continuing unabated in Kerala’s Kannur district pushing the ordinary people into a state of panic. With the schedule for the civic polls in the State becoming clearer, people fear that the violence will only escalate now as confronting parties may opt to keep the situation tense as part of their strategies.
A young BJP activist suffered hack injuries in an attack allegedly by CPI(M) workers while the house of a fishermen’s union leader belonging to the CPI(M) came under bomb attack late Tuesday night in Azhikode, the epicenter of the current phase of violence in Kannur, known for its long history of murderous political confrontations in which hundreds have lost lives.
A minimum of 20 men belonging to the BJP-RSS and CPI(M) have suffered stab and hack injuries and dozens of houses of activists of both the parties have come under bomb attacks in Azhikode since August 28, the day a young BJP activist was murdered allegedly by Marxists in Thrissur and a CPI(M) worker was stabbed to death by suspected BJP men in Kasaragod.
Officials in the Intelligence wing of the Kerala Police expressed the suspicion that the disputes over a tableau in a CPI(M) procession showing “crucifixion” of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru on September 5 and the destruction of a Guru statue on Sunday -- both in the district -- could be aimed at keeping the situation tense in view of the upcoming civic polls.
“It is strange for violence to become a tool for election campaign but in Kannur it is a reality,” says Muhammad Hashir, a smalltime businessman in Thalassery, Kannur. “Our experience tells us that violence tend to erupt here during the run-up to major elections. I think what is happening now is the same thing,” he says.
That the violence is currently confined to Azhikode does not give any relief to the people living in other sensitive areas of Kannur like Koothuparambu, Thalassery and Panur, says a retired police official from Thalipparambu in the district. “People of all these areas live in perpetual fear because they know that the scourge can spread to their villages any moment,” he says.
At least two incidents of violence took place in Azhikode late Tuesday night after a lull of three days. A BJP worker, Sayuj (27) of Attappada, was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode with serious hack injuries. Sayuj was attacked allegedly by a group of CPI(M) activists when he was going on a motor cycle.
The house of Raghunathan, a fishermen’s union (CITU) leader and member of the CPI(M)’s Azhikode South local committee, at Neerkkadavu came under bomb attack late Tuesday night. The police said that a group of men who had arrived on motorbikes had hurled two bombs at the house. Raghunathan was not in the house when the attack took place.
At the same time, the trading of charges between CPI(M) and the BJP over who had destroyed the statue of Sree Narayana Guru at Nangarath Peedika near Thalassery intensified even as the police submitted a report in the court listing ten persons, including the three RSS activists arrested on Monday, as accused.
While the CPI(M) reiterated that the statue was destroyed by BJP-RSS men, the BJP said the Marxists were trying to put the blame on that party after destroying it themselves. “This happened near the house of State CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. It couldn’t have happened without his knowledge,” State BJP general secretary K Surendran said.
The Guru statue, installed in the premises of a CPI(M)-controlled cultural club, was destroyed on Sunday, a day after the appearance of a tableau in a CPI(M) procession which showed Sree Narayana Guru as being crucified by his own followers and the Sangh Pariwar. The tableau triggered a huge controversy, forcing the CPI(M) leadership to offer limited apology.