Kerala police take uncharacteristically severe steps to quell Dalit protests; CPM invites charges of selective action

Most political parties and commerce and industry representatives in Kerala supported a hartal (shutdown strike) called by Communist Party of India (Marxist) to protest against the execution of former Iraq president Saddam Hussein in December 2006.

No eyebrows were raised in the state over the support that the protest received. This was because hartals called by any outfit, regardless of its political clout, normally become huge successes with vehicles going off the roads and business establishments and factories remaining shut.

But Keralites were surprised when most of these outfits turned their back on a dawn-to-dusk shutdown strike called by more than 30 Dalit organisations on 9 April to protest the “dilution” of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the police action against Dalit protestors in north India on 2 April.

With leading political parties not endorsing the hartal call, various bodies of vehicle operators and the merchants tried to operate normally by defying the strike call. Even though most of them do not share the issues raised by the hartals, they used to cooperate with the organisers of the strike fearing violence.

In the present case, the trade bodies and the bus operators’ associations had announced in advance that they will not heed the strike call as it was not supported by major political parties and mainstream organisations. But what shocked the agitators the most was the use of the police by the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government against them.

The police, which used to remain inactive during normal hartals, went overboard this time and took into custody many Dalit leaders, including M Geethanandan, convenor of Kerala Dalit Action Council that called the shutdown strike. In the past, the police have seldom used force against those enforcing hartals, despite repeated directions from the court, which has banned forced enforcement of strikes.

Police officials usually play a good Samaritan role by operating their vehicles to take stranded passengers from railway stations and airports to their destinations and patients to hospitals. But this time, the police did what the court asked them to, and arrested agitators who tried to block roads and close shops.

Geethanandan said that they were arrested because they were Dalits without any political clout. He said he and most others kept in the police custody had neither violated any law nor indulged in any violent activity. The police accused them of blocking vehicles and forcing shops to down shutters.

Though the Congress did not endorse the hartal, they tried to show solidarity with the Dalit organisations by organising a meet at the party headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram, and postponing a meeting of the Janamochana Yatra led by party state chief M Hassan in Wayanad.

Dalit leaders have dismissed them as political ploys with an eye on the Dalit vote bank. A major boost to the agitators, however, came from an unexpected quarter. It came in the form of support from influential Jacobite Church Bishop Geevarghese Mar Coorilos.

“Normally, I do not support hartals as such protests in Kerala have not served their purpose. But I support the Dalit hartal wholeheartedly as it is against the atrocities faced by the marginalised sections under the fascist and feudal system. The people who are opposing the strike should introspect over their approach and mentality to the caste system and Dalits,” the Bishop said.

Popular writer Paul Zacharia said that the lack of support to the Dalit struggle was a clear indication of the ‘untouchable’ attitude that Malayalis continue to show towards the community.

He said that there are several places in Kerala where Dalits are, even now, denied access to temples, wells and common facilities. This shows that the remnants of the feudalism have refused to leave the minds of Malayalis, he added.

“Political parties have been showing sympathy to Dalits outwardly, but they are feudal inside. This double standard is prevalent in all political parties. They show love for the Dalits for their votes. After getting the votes, they forget them,” he added.

The double standard adopted by the CPM has come as a surprise to social activists, since the party claims to be the saviour of Dalits, minorities and the marginalised sections. Noted writer and social critic MN Karassery said that the stand that the party government took with respect to the Dalit hartal was discriminatory.

“The government has been indirectly supporting hartals in the state by declaring a holiday for educational institutions, postponing examinations and job interviews, and suspending the operation of buses run by the state-run corporation. But in this case, the government has used the police to suppress the protest,” Karaserry told Firstpost.

Senior Congress leader AK Antony also criticised the arrest of the Dalit leaders. He said that they had called the hartal for a ‘genuine cause’. He urged the CPM government to immediately release the arrested leaders and take steps to end the atrocities against Dalits.

“The use of the police by the government shows the attitude of the party towards Dalits. The CPM in Kerala has not been showing the same approach it shows to Dalit issues in other parts of the country. The party has been most vocal against the persecution of Dalits in northern states, but it is silent even when its cadres are persecuting Dalits,” said Karaserry.

The hounding of a woman Dalit auto driver Chitralekha by party men in Kannur is a glaring example. CPM’s trade union members forced her to leave her native place at Edatt near Payyannur by attacking her auto, assaulting her and her family members and slapping false cases against them.

The party-led government is now trying to take back the land allotted to Chithralekha, who had joined the male-dominated occupation for her livelihood. The land, which is located about 40 kilometres from her native place, was allotted to her by the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government. The move to take back the land comes after the construction of the house has reached mid-way.

The government has served a notice to her to vacate the land on the ground that she owns another piece of land at Edatt. However, she had been forced to leave that land due to frequent attacks from CPM party men. The 40-year-old Dalit woman had taken up the construction of the house at the land allotted to her by availing a loan from the bank. The CPM-led government had earlier cancelled the previous government’s order sanctioning her Rs 5 lakhs for building the house.

Karaserry feels that the Dalits in Kerala were suffering discrimination despite several social movements because they are not united. He said that there are more than 30 organisations working with various Dalit communities. The political parties have been ignoring them as they do not have a consolidated vote bank, unlike ‘upper-caste’ communities.

Dalits will not get justice unless they come under one platform. Karaserry is doubtful about this unity, as they are divided into different castes and sub-castes.