Author: S. Chandrasekhar
Publication: Organiser
Date: August 6, 2000
CLOSE on the heels of
the CPM's determination to physically annihilate political foes in Kerala
(mainly the Sangh) and its rampant corruption and misuse of power to channelise
funds of about Rs. 200 crore for its new television channel is the
CPM's conspiracy to torpedo the education system in the State. Kerala,
the most literate State in the country, is now following a 10+2+3 system
of education. The CPM Government, without consulting educational
experts, representatives of school managements, parent-teacher associations,
student organisations and opposition political parties, delinked the pre-degree
education from the colleges and included it in the school level calling
it a plus-two system of education and sought to commence it from the current
academic year 2000-2001.
The opposition parties
including BJP are totally opposing this move of the CPM Government.
Delinking of pre-degree from the college to the school level will create
problems for the students, since laboratory facilites etc avaialble in
the colleges will not be available in the schools (most of which function
in thatched sheds). Moreover all students who pass out SSLC cannot
be accommodated in the plus-two since seats are limited. Also, this
matter should be discussed at all levels, covering all pros and cons and
implemented at the next academic year without causing any trauma to the
parents and students. But the haste of the CPM in implementing this
system is there for all to see. The Government had allotted plus-two
to 360 schools out of the 1429 schools which had applied for the same.
While denying plus-two
to most of the Government schools, the left government had allotted the
same to private management schools. It is alleged that sums ranging
from Rs 25 lakh to Rs one crore were collected from school managements
depending on the number of seats allotted and strategic locations of the
schools. Certain school managements that have not received plus-two
sanction have declared on cable TV the name of LDF leaders to whom they
have given money. Hence the ulterior motive of the CPM in torpedoing
the education system of the State is nothing but to mobilise funds for
the coming elections to the State Assembly in March 2001.
They are not prepared
to wait for one more year to implement this, since by then elections would
be over. Agitations have been going on for the past one month against
the CPM Government's plus-two system by both the Congress-led UDF and the
BJP demanding its revocation in the current academic year. Normally
agitators who march to the Secretariat or the Chief Minister's residence
(both in Thiruvananthapuram) are removed in police vans and let off after
some time. This is the standard procedure adopted by the police in
the case of all demonstrations. But the police action on the ABVP
protestors who had marched to the Secretariat on July 12 demanding resignation
of the Chief Minister and revoking of the plus-two system is a black mark
on the political agitations of Kerala. Around 300 ABVP students,
led by the State President Unnikrishnan, Vice-President Suresh, State Organiser
Umakanthan and fire-brand National Executive Member Kum. P.P.
Sindumol marched to the Secretariat.
After the customary address
to the marchers when they were getting up to proceed inside the Secretariat
to hand over the memorandum to the Chief Minister, the police without any
provocation started lathi-charging the ABVP workers and began bursting
tear-gas shells. Without the customary display of red banner and
blowing of bugle, mufti police and CPM goons also joined the police and
every single ABVP marcher was surrounded and brutally attacked. Many
ABVP workers were physically lifted and carried to the nearby University
College (an SFI stronghold) and brutally assaulted by SFI and CPM goondas.
The women protestors which included P.P. Sindumol, Asha Devi, Anjana
Devi and Sree Devi were brutally attacked from all sides by policemen with
ferocity not seen even in British days. There were even attempts
by CPM goondas to molest the ABVP women.
The police and the CPM
leadership were particularly irked at Sindumol and other ABVP workers,
since the previous day they had conducted a public trial of the Chief Minister
in front of the Secretariat, declared him a corrupt person and burnt his
effigy. Unnikrishnan and Suresh were also brutally lathi-charged.
The CPM goons, mufti police and uniformed police prevented the badly injured
ABVP marchers to take the profusely bleeding women marchers to the hospital.
Unnikrishnan and Suresh were lying on the road with severe injuries including
head injuries. But the mental courage and the agitational spirit
of the ABVP workers is another feather in the cap of this nationalist organisation.
Despite the lathi-charging and the bleeding injuries they were shouting
Vande Matharam and Bharat Mata Ki Jai. On hearing of this hundreds
of RSS workers rushed to the spot. By then the CPM goondas and SFI
students had retreated and the injured were rushed to the hospital.
The condition of about
35 ABVP workers including Unnikrishnan and Sindumol is very serious.
The Sangh had called a massive protest march on July 13 to protest against
the brutal lathi-charge of ABVP protestors on the previous day. Thousands
of RSS-ABVP-BMS-VHP workers marched to the Secretariat led by veteran RSS
leaders Sishupalan, Prof. Gopikuttan, VHP leader Seshachalam and
BMS Secretary Gireesh. Here also the repetition of previous day's
modus-operandi took place. Police without any provocation fired tear-gas
shells at the protestors, even injuring Shri Sishupalan on the leg.
The police force was led by the Commissioner Padma Kumar, a hand-picked
CPM man who was brought from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram to thwart the
growth of the RSS in the capital city of Kerala. Despite provocations
by the police the disciplined swayamsevaks dispersed peacefully after customary
addresses by the leaders.
The procession started
at 11 a.m. and the whole affair ended by 12.30 p.m. Even as
the swayamsevaks were dispersing, simultaneously from three to four vantage
areas, CPM/SFI goondas and mufti police started attacking shops, government
buses and private vehicles parked on the road. In the next four hours
around 300 buses, 200 private cars and thousands of shop boards and glass
panes were destroyed. Patients lying in hospitals were attacked.
A bus conductor was attacked and murdered. At the end of the day
the city resembled a war-ravaged area. This was an entirely stage-managed
event created by the CPM and the police to discredit the RSS in the eyes
of the public. Right from 12.30 p.m. to around 4 p.m.
CPM goondas and mufti police were creating havoc on the streets with no
police action whatsoever.
They had instructions
from the top echelons not to act, because by this two ends can be achieved.
One is to divert public from the plus-two issue, second is to alienate
the people from the growing RSS movement in Kerala which was penetrating
into all sections of the society. The police, which had without any
provocation brutally attacked even women ABVP marchers, remained mute spectators
when around 100 CPM goondas and mufti police were holding the city to ransom.
The police did not take action since their own men were involved in the
attack and arresting them would have led to punitive aciton from their
pro-CPM commissioner. The BJP State President C.K. Padmanabhan
and the State General Secretary P.P. Mukundan have called for a judicial
enquiry into the entire events that took place on July 12 and 13.
They said that the pattern of attacks simultaneously from several areas
clearly point to a CPM conspiracy to belittle the RSS in the eyes of the
public.
They said that among
the persons arrested by the police were DYFI workers Vinod, Shibu, Rajan
and Hari. An SFI student of University College Sabu Kumar (who was
wearing a dark blue banian) was arrested from the east fort area but let
off in the evening. The dead conductor in his dying declaration had
identified a blue banianed person as his assailant. This needs to
be probed into. They charged the CPM and the police with harassing
RSS workers in Thiruvananthapuram in the name of raids for arresting vandals.
They condemned the raids on RSS, BMS, VHP and Bharatiya Vichar Kendram
offices. Innocent swayamsevaks were being arrested and made co-accused
in the murder of the conductor. They said that BMS District Secretary
Gireesh who had returned to the BMS office after addressing the swayamsevaks
was arrested and made first accused in the murder of the conductor, whereas
he had gone nowhere near the East Fort Area where the murder took place.
They warned that any
attempt to falsely implicate RSS/BJP workers in cases will eventually boomerang
on them. RSS is a disciplined organisation which has been working
in Kerala for the past 50 years and no amount of false propaganda by CPM
and its stooges in the police will be able to alienate the people of Kerala
from the RSS. They claimed that they have proof of CPM-Mufti Police
nexus in the murder and vandalism and this will be brought to the notice
of the Union Government. The RSS Prant Pracharak Sethumadhavan has
warned that his organisation will not take these harassment lying down.
He disclosed that RSS leader Sishupalan is an eye-witness to mufti policemen
indulging to stone throwing. Perhaps as a vindication of the agitation
launched by the ABVP, the Kerala High Court has struck down the list of
360 schools out of the 1429 schools which had applied for the plus-two
sanction on the ground that they were arbitrary, malafice, unjustifiable
and unconstitutional.
They said that by sanctioning
this, the government had acted in haste, in an arbitrary manner and had
violated five of its earlier order on the plus-two subject. By this
it is crystal clear that there was corruption by the CPM in the plus-two
allotment. Similarly an impartial judicial enquiry will absolve the
Sangh of all charges of violence and arson and will clearly bring out the
role of CPM-police nexus to belittle the RSS in the minds of the public.
Meanwhile the State Human Rights Commission has summoned the city Police
Commissioner to explain his stand on the brutal attack on women ABVP workers
on July 12 and on the police inaction and delay in containing violent incidents
on July 13.
