CPM worker, BJP leader hacked to death in Kannur; political parties pass the buck

If the spin doctors of the CPM in Kerala are to be believed, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is not amused by Kannur dominating the headlines. They would like us to believe that after the episode involving the alleged harassment of two Dalit girls by CPM activists in Kannur last month, Vijayan called up the Kannur district leaders and gave them a piece of his mind. “It will be counterproductive,’’ he is believed to have told them. If the two killings on Monday night — of a CPM worker reportedly by RSS cadre and the alleged retaliatory killing of a BJP worker — in Payyanur is any indication, the CM’s dressing down to his Kannur comrades has had little effect. In the latest round of political violence, 41-year-old CPM worker CV Dhanaraj was attacked at his home, allegedly by RSS workers at 10 pm on Monday. A little after midnight, Dhanaraj’s murder was avenged. CK Ramachandran, a member of BJP’s labour wing, was stabbed at his home. The word ‘revenge’ quite clearly defines Kannur’s political vocabulary. [caption id=“attachment_2795562” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Pinarayi Vijayan. News18[/caption] In the political culture of the ‘Wild West of Kerala’, an eye for an eye, a stab for a stab, a leg for a leg is what adds sheen to a karyakarta’s CV. The perception that CPM, since 19 May, has a spring in its step and is more aggressive, is making matters worse. It has made the RSS, which is the CPM’s main rival in these parts, feel cornered and resorted to offence to defend itself. Attacks on rivals during CPM victory processions have only made those who predicted that “if the LDF comes to power, Kannur will rule Kerala’’, crow “I told you so’’. The Kannur CPM blames the RSS for killing Dhanaraj before his family but says it is not sure if its “angry comrades’’ avenged his killing. The CPM says the saffron unit is unleashing violence and says it is not a blemish on Pinarayi Vijayan’s governance. “Since we came to power, the RSS has killed three CPM workers. How can you say we are getting a bad name? We are in fact, the victims,’’ says MV Jayarajan, CPM state committee member. The CPM accuses the RSS of plotting to get inside CPM strongholds like Kannur and create unrest. The BJP reads out the same script, except that the bag guys in its narrative are different. It calls the Payyanur killing a pre-planned attack by CPM workers, while claiming that the CPM leader was killed by a non-RSS person. “The chief minister is not acting like a chief minister or a home minister. His police force is acting like an extension of the CPM. The CPM workers decide what action the police will take. If RSS-BJP petition the cops, they do not even accept it,’’ alleges K K Vinod Kumar, Kannur district general secretary of the BJP. In the last four decades, since Kannur has existed with the dark underbelly of political violence, over 225 people have been killed on both sides of the bitter party-based divide. When the LDF came to power, Kannur marked the occasion by spilling blood. RSS workers allegedly attacked CPM victory processions in different parts of the district and one person was killed and eight activists injured. In retaliation, CPM cadre allegedly burnt down houses of RSS workers. The BJP took the battle to Delhi, trying to gherao AKG Centre, the CPM headquarters on 22 May, where 600 BJP workers were detained. The BJP sensing an opportunity to embarrass the new chief minister, sent several of its big guns to Kerala. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ram Madhav and Meenakshi Lekhi made an attempt to nationalise what the BJP calls CPM-sponsored violence in the CM’s backyard. When the BJP asked Vijayan to control his party cadre, the CM saw red. Speaking more like a party man, he retorted in a Facebook post. “BJP has lost the tolerance to accept the people’s verdict in Kerala. That is why they have unleashed violence.’’ On the street, people like entrepreneur Naushad believe that the chief minister’s post gives Vijayan the stature to behave like a statesman and unilaterally wave the white flag. But not everyone is convinced either outfit will be able to rein in its cadre, arguing peace talks have taken place before, without success. “Kannur culture is continuous killings. Occasionally they stop for a couple of months after peace talks. But then they start again. They make a living out of it,’’ says NP Rajendran, Kozhikode-based political analyst. But with former chief minister VS Achuthanandan not entirely happy being Kerala’s Fidel Castro, Vijayan will have to ensure things in his hometown do not get out of hand. Lest the nonagenarian plays the Kannur card against the Kannur boy.