AYUSH ANAND & VAIBHAV CHADHA
Interview with advocate Sreedharan Pillai
1. Former Kerala BJP State president (2003–2006).
2. Lawyer practicising at High Court of Kerala for more than three decades. He is also advocate in many criminal cases of political violence across Kerala against RSS/ BJP activists.
3. He is a known writer and columnist in Kerala and has written more than 50 books on various topics including a book in Malayalam language on communist atrocities in Kerala.
4. In 2016 Assembly election, he contested from Chengannur constituency, Alappuzha on the BJP symbol.
Sir, what is this problem of political violence in Kerala?
CPM is Kerala’s leading political power. It has got a very good organisational cadre machinery. Money power and Muscle power-wise they are on top. Many administrative officers including the police are under the CPM’s influence. There are political clashes here but the root cause is the communist hold.
Is this political violence, the CPM versus RSS/ BJP, as communist leaders claim? What is the history and cause of political violence here?
Look, it was only after 1968 that the BJP or the RSS became a player here either at political or social level. Prior to this also, Kerala was notorious for its political killings. In 1957, EMS Namboodiripad formed one of the first democratically elected communist Governments in the world in Kerala itself. But because of widespread political killings and law and order problem across the State, the famous ‘Liberation Struggle’ erupted. This Liberation struggle was spontaneous and joined by Hindus, Christians, NSS members and almost all peace-loving people of Kerala. The Government was dismissed in 1959 by the Centre, which invoked Article 356 of the Constitution citing breaking down of constitutional machinery in Kerala.
Even Prior to that the communists showed their true character in the Communist Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, which was a violent revolution in the princely State of Travancore against Prime Minister Sir C P Ramaswami Iyer and the State, during a crucial period when India was on the verge of getting her independence.
The region around Alleppey was a communist stronghold and the communist workers organised a mass upheaval in October 1946 against the authority of the Diwan, and practically established their own Government in the region. This led to attacks and deaths of Travancore police officials and Government officials in that region. The total loss of life is estimated to be more than a thousand.
T K Varghese Vaidya, a leader of the struggle, had gone on record saying it was a rehearsal for a larger revolution with the ultimate objective of establishing a “Communist India”.
So, the history of communist party shows that it has no faith in the rule of law. They are not only in clash with RSS/BJP workers but also with other political opponents. In almost all incidents of political violence barring some exceptions one side is always Communist party workers.
Can you give some examples?
In 2014, on the 29th day of holy month of Ramzan, CPM workers had killed Faizal. He was a reporter with Muslim Tejas Teli, a mouthpiece of SDPI Kerala. He was previously associated with CPM and had later crossed to SDPI and became a local agent of this magazine at Thalasseri. One day when he went for its distribution, he was killed and a trishul was left there to to make it look like some RSS workers had killed him. Immediately, K Balakrishnan, a communist leader went there and called this as an act by the RSS and called for a protest against this ‘communal’ murder.
But, when a police officer revealed this conspiracy and tried to book the original perpetrators of the incident, he was tortured by the higher authorities of Kerala police and was not allowed to perform his duty. Ultimately in the pursuit of justice, a writ petition was filled by the family members of Faizal in the Kerala High Court. The court ordered a CBI investigation and the culprits were found out to be local CPM leaders. Kragorajan, Adesh and other CPM members were sent to jail and KASA (a law banning entry in the district) was invoked.
Violence is in the genes of the CPM. Initiation of political and Ideological violence is always by the communists in Kerala, because it is the only party in world which still follows Stalinism. Stalinism believed in murder or elimination of its political opponents or dissent, even if it is within the party.
What about the political leadership of LDF or CPM in Kerala? Are they also involved in this kind of violence or is it only limited to district level politics?
Yes, they are the torchbearers of these political killings in Kerala. All CPM Chief Ministers have been accused in murder cases. Be it EK Naynaar, or VS Achutanandan or Pinarayi Vijayan, they all faced allegations.
But what about the allegations of the Left that it is RSS/BJP workers who are killing their cadres?
There are so many cases where the top CPM leadership faced trial for killing political opponents other than BJP/RSS. RSS people are only involved in violence in furtherance of self-defence, when they find there is no alternative to save their life and limb. In 90 per cent cases of political violence, CPM members are either on one side or in majority cases they are the accused. RSS/BJP workers are the worst victims of political violence and the law-enforcing agencies help these political goondas.
How can the CPM workers manage such large-scale political violence? Is there a machinery operating in Kerala for such things?
The CPM has a very well-established machinery. The communist leaders also train and equip their cadres for violence. In Kannur district, there are communist party villages. In these declared party villages, no other political parties are allowed to function. The Constitution is suspended in these villages and the CPM ‘constitution’ is supreme there.
In the famous Communist party Coimbatore congress, the leaders passed a martyr resolution. They published a list of 220 people killed from their side. In any of BJP or other party ruled State, they have not been killed. Not even a single person lost his life in political violence. All the martyrs were confined to Kerala, Bengal and Tripura.
They always claim themselves as champions of minorities, lower class and depressed people. But here in Kerala these very people are the victims of CPM violence. The communist workers and supporters killed Muslims and tried to create communal flare at Thalasseri. A majority of BJP/RSS workers killed are from the labour class and from backward communities. So, the main cause is the communist ideology of Stalinism, which the rest of communist world has abandoned.