Kannur: Political killings continue to leave a red stain on Kerala's development legacy. Each political murder is found to have a clear and strong conspiracy behind the execution. Peace talks, victim remembrance, and aid fund-raising to support the victim’s family are repeated as a pattern after every murder. This is the story of Kannur.
The list of killings, every political party has carried out, by lurking in the narrow country pathways and hacking in front of the parents at the victim’s houses turned out to balance each other. There are also survivors of the killings who live a victimised life after the vengeance.
In the days of blood spill and political vengeance leading to brutal physical attacks and killings, Kannur had remained a blood-stained splotch for Kerala. However, the truth is that the inhumane means of avenging the political enemy by killing does not date back long into the history of Kannur.
Kannur started hearing the term ‘political murder’ only in the early 1940s. But those were all part of the armed battles in those days. It was in 1969 that a real political murder happened, with all signs of political vengeance and conspiracy leading to the killing, in Thalassery.
The murder was a result of personal enmity between political leaders. Such kills were executed with clear planning and conspiracy. The person to be killed was decided in advance, followed for many days, and later the murder was executed by fixing the time and situation.
The political killing incidents which were initially being reported from Thalassery taluk gradually started spreading to all parts of Kannur district. As the political parties started listing the number of martyrs from their party and tried to convert the killings into votes during elections, Kannur started shedding more blood.
As time passed by, the way of killing changed from hacking to ‘bombing’ which set the trend later in Kannur.
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Kerala’s conscience, shocked with the tears of hundreds of mothers who lost their children - their lives and livelihood - to political killings, became numb.
At that point, many political leaders started telling their party members to leave the trail of blood in ‘Political book’ of Kannur. Now, the youth has also started thinking in the lines of ending the murder politics of Kannur at any cost.
As society started to see murder politics with hatred and contempt, the number of persons hacked to death in political killings has also reduced over time. Nevertheless, it cannot yet be ascertained that the era of murder politics in Kannur is over.
Signs indicate that political vengeance and intolerance remains deep-rooted. This can spurt out with a trigger anytime.
In the past 5 years, 34 political murders have been reported from Kannur district as per the police records. These numbers are based on the cases registered by the police. The number of brutal physical assaults, though not ending in killings, is not less even today.
The three mainstream political parties in Kerala - Congress, Communist Party of India, Marxist and Bharatiya Janata Party - are on the forefront in the case of murder politics also. The blood battles reported from Kannur have badly affected the peace and harmony otherwise prevalent in Kerala society.
Moyyarath Shankaran, a Communist party member, was brutally assaulted by a group of Congress workers who were associated with Desharaksha Samithi on May 11, 1948. Later, Shankaran, who was barely alive, was lodged in Kannur Central Jail. On the next day, May 12, 1948, Shankaran succumbed to his injuries in the sub-jail.
Later, one political killing each was reported from the region in these years - 1962,1967 and 1970. From 1971, political murders started becoming a regular affair every year. After 1975, Kannur witnessed more than one incident of political murder every year. In 1993, CPM worker Nalppadi Vasu was killed. The case, in which K Sudhakaran, who was the MP then from Kannur, was the accused in the political murder, is still being discussed.
K V Sudheesh, a leader of the Students Federation of India (SFI) the student's wing of the CPM, was killed in 1994, giving the murder politics of Kannur yet another horrifying face. BJP and RSS workers were the convicts in Sudheesh murder case.
With the murder of Yuva Morcha leader Jayakrishnan Master being killed on 1999 December 1, the peace and order in Kannur district had completely derailed.
In the new century, political killings became a series. In 2000 alone, 5 CPM workers were killed due to political vengeance. In the following years, BJP and RSS party workers also fell prey to the lethal weapons of political vengeance.
On October 22, 2006, the controversy that emerged following the death of Fasal, a Popular Front of India worker, has not settled even today. In 2008, 14 political murders were reported involving people of different political affiliations.
The murder of Ariyil Shukkoor, an Indian Union of Muslim League (IUML) worker, on February 20, 2012, had also triggered a political controversy. The very next year, Kathiroor Manoj, an RSS worker was also killed. By then, the number of political murders reported from Kannur had already exceeded one hundred.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reached Kannur to probe into the political killing. In Manoj murder case, CPM District Secretary P Jayarajan was convicted. Even though political leaderships held meetings and decided to lay down the arms, murder politics continued to shock Kannur. In 2015, CPM worker Oniyan Preman was hacked to death. Following this, CPM worker Vinodan, RSS worker Sujith, CPM’s C V Dhanaraj, Bharathiya Mazdoor Sangh BMS member C K Ramachandran, K Mohanan, Farooq, V Dasan, Kanjileri Sathyan, V V Aneesh and Peralassery Bhaskaran were all killed. The list went on.
After a short interval, the death of Youth Congress worker Shuhaib led to a huge controversy in the political arena. Shuhaib was killed following a students’ clash at Edayannur School on February 12, 2018. CPM workers were convicted in the case. Peringadi Shamej, V Ramith, Chavassery Uthaman, and finally Vazhappurayil Syed Muhammed Salahuddin were all killed due to political enmity.
The incident happened on September 8, 2020. Salahuddin, SDPI worker, was one of the accused in the murder case of Chittaripparambu Shyamaprasad on 19 January, 2018 .
Besides, there have also been incidents in Kannur when people who were in the process of making country bombs to attack their political enemies, in turn, died accidentally or got severely injured as the bombs exploded.
Most of those who were killed during these years were affiliated to the CPM, BJP and RSS. This is the land where even the innocent persons were killed for political vengeance. Many families remain shattered and went out of balance in the impact of the trauma of losing a family member to the murder politics of Kannur.
Many fled from the place. Many others remain fighting against the odds. A few others avenged on the death of their dear ones. Presently, Kannur seems to be very calm and peaceful. However, it may change any moment as proven already by the murder politics in Kannur.
Kannur has always led when it comes to unconditional love brotherhood. Though it has dimmed the vibrance of Kannur, its love for the people has never changed. Let us hope and walk back towards tolerance and love among the people in Kannur.
