Disgusted and scared to live in Kerala, land of killers: Mohanlal

Malayalam superstar and national award winning actor Mohanlal has expressed deep anguish and disgust over the murder of TP Chandrasekharan, the CPM-dissident, who was hacked to death at Kozhikkode in north Kerala on May 5th. I don’t want to talk about the politics behind this murder. I don’t know. But, I do want to say that I feel thoroughly disgruntled to live in a state where there are people who kill and make others kill. I feel scared and disgusted. Is Kerala turning into a mad house?

“I feel disgruntled to live in a place where people kill and make others kill,” he said. “I feel disgusted and scared.”Writing a solemn note on his blog to express his deep pain on his 52nd birthday, he said an otherwise joyous day has been shrouded by the sadness of Chandrasekharan’s murder. He said he can very closely personalise the intense sorrow of the slain leader’s mother. Mohanlal is one of the very few cultural icons in the state who have spoken out against the murder. A few days ago, the chief minister Oomen Chandy expressed surprise that the cultural leaders of the state, who otherwise speak on literally everything, were conspicuously silent on Chandrasekharan’s murder. Balachandran Chullikkad, a celebrated poet, had said that the cultural leaders were silent because they were scared of bodily harm. In a state where armed criminals can be hired for pittance, one is scared for one’s life and limbs, he had said.

Noted writer Paul Zacharia denounced the silence of writers and artists. Mohanlal’s creative response is significant in this context. No other political murder has stirred the state’s conscience this much. Read below a translation of the post by Mohanlal. The original Malayalam post can be read at www.thecompleteactor.com : "Two mothers in my thoughts: 21 May is my birthday. I have completed 52 years in the journey of my life. It’s certainly an occasion to be happy; but this year, the day is shrouded by the dark clouds of sadness. On this overcast day, the thoughts of two mothers are brimming solemnly in my heart. One is my mother who has been lying unconscious for three months following a brain-attack and the other, the mother of TP Chandrasekharan, who was killed with more than 50 hacks to his face.

"I don’t know him personally; but from whatever little I know, he would have been roughly my age, and his mother, probably as old as my mother is. So many times, I have seen my mother’s mind writhing in pain when she sensed a flicker of pain in me. Therefore I can so closely feel the “sea of sorrow” in his mother, thinking about a son who has been butchered into so many pieces. The joy of my birthday drowns deep in the ocean of her tears...
http://www.firstpost.com/india/actor-mohan-lal-says-he-is-disgusted-to-live-in-kerala-316595.html

Also see: T P Chandrasekharan, Revolutionary Marxist Party leader dead
T P Chandrasekharan, Revolutionary Marxist Party leader in Kerala was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in a dreadful incident which happened at Vallikkad in Kozhikode district of Kerala on Friday night. Chandrasekharan(52) was attacked by a bunch of hooligans travelling in an innova car throw bombs and later attacked him as he fell from the bike. The incident happened on 4th May night at around 10.15 PM. Chandrashekaran who had been brutally murdered was left on the road for half an hour unidentified before he was taken to the Vadakara Govt hospital. On view of the brutal murder of T P Chandrashekaran, UDF had declared a 12 hours of hartal in the state. T P Chadrasekharan who was expelled from CPI (M) few years back, was the leader of Revolutionary Marxist Party in Kerala. T P Chadrasekharan started his political career as an activist of SFI (Students Federation of India) the student's wing of CPI (M) and later gave up his whole life to work for the party. He served as the district secretary of SFI, State Joint Secretary and later a representative in the national level.

We have plotted and killed people, admits CPM leader
The outspoken claim of a CPM leader in Kerala that the party has indeed plotted and killed its opponents landed the Marxists in an absolute mess.The star of the foolish street-corner spectacle that plunged the CPM into a fresh crisis is MM Mani, secretary of the party in Idukki, an eastern district adjoining Ernakulam and Kottyam. Ironically, the meeting where he blurted out was convened to tell the party workers that the CPM was not involved in the murder of Chandrasekharan. Unfortunately for him and the CPM, the shocking footage of his speech found its way to the state’s TV channels.

His speech was surprisingly vivid... the party had made a list of 13 people and killed four of them – all Congress functionaries. “One, two, three, four…” he said narrating the sequence of murders.“The first one was shot dead, the second was beaten to death and the third was stabbed to death,” he said with absolute derision, citing their names and other details. The murders he narrated were in fact among the most sensational in the district – three of them in the early 1980s and the fourth in 2004. In the first three, nobody had been convicted for lack of evidence. Mani’s admission to the party’s involvement has provided fresh evidence for the police to reopen the cases.

And: Dead TP Chandrasekharan more lethal to CPM
Whoever the killer, T.P.Chandrasekharan (TPC) dead is much lethal to CPM than TPC living. In the party belts of Malabar, the CPM is realising the TPC effect, as its organisations had to suspend many public programmes due to the lackadaisical attitude of party workers. CPM fears that the TPC effect will spill over to the Kariyad, Kidanhi, Chokli and Panur regions in Kannur district where there were many dormant followers for TPC. The region is adjacent to Azhiyur and Eramala panchayats, RMP strongholds...  it is the first time that dissidents of the CPM received a martyr of their own, who fought against the party in the name of Communist ideologies. Most second-rung leaders of the CPM in Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Wayanad were close allies of TPC while he was in the party. Most including legislative members, former legislative members and a few who play a key role in the CPM at the national level are in constant touch with Rema, wife of TPC, who has been drafted for RMP work now. Meanwhile, a meeting of CPM members who left the party on TPC murder issue and those who plan to leave the party, have convened a commemoration programme in Kozhikode on Tuesday. Many district-level leaders of the CPM and the DYFI are expected to participate in the programme.

See also: ADITYA MENON: A brutal side to God's own country


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