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Time to cool tempers in Kerala

Kerala, described as God’s own country, is currently facing political turbulence due to the confrontation between the red and saffron…

Time to cool tempers in Kerala

BJP chief Amit Shah (Photo: Ians)

Kerala, described as God’s own country, is currently facing political turbulence due to the confrontation between the red and saffron brigades. The fight between the BJP ruling at the Centre and the CPIM ruling in the state has resulted in violence, causing damage to life and property.

This is happening in a state that has always been ahead of the rest of the country in many areas, including literacy, sanitation and health. The focus is Kannur, the home district of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, which has been a hotbed of political violence between the ruling CPM and the RSS/BJP for nearly five decades.

The BJP has directly attacked the chief minister terming it as political terrorism claiming that since he took over, killings have increased. “Attacks on BJP karyakartas in CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s home constituency is a matter of grave concern and smacks of political vendetta,” party president Amit Shah has tweeted.

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Crime Bureau statistics show that 45 CPI-M activists, 44 of the BJP, 15 of the Congress and four from the Muslim League have been killed since 1991 in Kannur.

The BJP has escalated its highdecibel national campaign by taking out Padyatras which will span 154 kilometers covering 11 districts of Kerala. It is the first public demonstration of the BJP to make inroads into Kerala’s electoral politics.

The two- week Janraksha Yatra, which will end in Thiruvananthapuram on October 17, with the party chief leading protests against the CPI-M workers for allegedly killing BJP-RSS workers, has a purpose. The BJP hopes to focus national attention on the alleged political murders holding the CPI-M responsible and portraying itself as being in the vanguard of countering “red-jihadi terror”.

Amit Shah has declared, “Through this Yatra, the party will apprise people of the country about the inhuman acts of Leftists in Kerala”. The party has also fielded its high profile chief ministers including from UP, Maharashtra and Goa to raise the profile of the Yatra.

Senior Union ministers, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also join the Yatra in coming days. Creating a lot of interest, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has declared, “There is no place for violence in a democracy… Killings of innocent people should stop”.

So why this confrontation? It is indeed pure politics. First of all, politics and violence bear an inextricable link in Kerala, particularly between the CPI (M) and the RSS. While the political rhetoric raised by both parties tries to pin the blame on the other side, deaths are equally distributed.

The major problem with the followers of both parties is that they follow their leaders blindly. Greedy for power, both parties instigate their workers to settle scores.

Secondly, the RSS/BJP think this is the perfect time to find some political space in Kerala. Kerala is one of the states the party has identified for its expansion plans in the south.

Enthused by its electoral success with 19 of 30 states in its kitty, the party hopes to attract young voters by projecting itself as the only force to challenge the Left and the Congress.The CPI-M, in its efforts to marginalize the Congress and the Muslim League, has declared the BJP as its principal opponent. Unfortunately in the present instance, instead of curbing violence, leaders of both parties, seem to have provoked it further.

CPI (M) state secretary and Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan recently said in a meeting, “If someone attacks us they should not go as they came and should be dealt (with) then and there”.

Kundan Chandrawat from RSS announced a bounty of Rs. 1 crore for beheading Kerela chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, an offer which now stands withdrawn. Though police records show that the CPI (M), DYFI, BJP and RSS cadres have been accused of most number of murders, other parties too have targeted their rivals.

It’s high time these political parties should sit together and sort out differences. Also they should fight politically instead of resorting to violence. Any attempt to politicize the matter may boomerang. While all political parties have a stake in a peaceful state, the CPI (M) as the party in power bears greater responsibility in maintaining law and order and ensuring the security of political opponents.

For the BJP, hard work is ahead as however hard it tries, unlike in other states, communal polarisation will not work in Kerala, according to observers. Kerala has a unique demography (27 per cent Muslim and 18 per cent Christian), high rate of literacy, equal split of popular votes between the LDF and the UDF and a secular socio-cultural milieu.

It was only last year that the BJP could manage to get its first MLA in the assembly. Whether it is the UDF or the LDF they had made contributions like the spread of cooperatives, fair price shops, and other pro-poor measures.

This kind of political violence should be avoided. All parties must go back to the politics of social upliftment and development replacing the politics of violence.

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