I was studying in college when K.T. Jayakrishnan (a primary school teacher and an RSS activist in Kannur) was hatched to death in 1999. He was murdered in the class room right in front of his 10-year old students. The incident was widely criticized and gained great publicity. At that time political murders were on a high in Kannur. I was a left-leaning student undergoing my post-graduation in a faraway college down south in Trivandrum district. I was geographically far away from the happenings and psychologically quite boorish to comment on that incident like this: “They that take the sword shall perish with the sword”. One of my friends even commented that there should be a daily score line in newspapers, much like stock market prices, about the number of political killings in Kannur.
Years later, now I realize the lack of sensitivity in such once-celebrated comments. What made me think of that almost-forgotten incident is the Supreme Court verdict which acquitted four of the five accused in Jayakrishnan murder case and set them free. One person, the first accused, is given life imprisonment. Three persons were released yesterday (one of the ‘innocent’ persons is undergoing a life term for another murder; so he is still in jail) and they were given a thunderous public reception that would make the Ashes winning England team envious.
This is the last of the happenings that make politically neutral (I am no longer left leaning) people to rue something they did about seven months ago: that is, voting for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led arrogantly by Communist Party of India (Marxist), better known as CPM. Three months before, CPM activists ransacked the house of college lecturer who refused to give financial contribution towards a CPM-sponsored fund-raising. Nothing happened to the culprits. Government employees owing allegiance to other unions than the CPM-affiliated unions had been transferred to distant places. Several people were arm-twisted into subscribing Deshabhimani, the newspaper owned by CPM. Kerala has become a paradise for the comrades and almost a hell for non-believers of CPM’s brand of communism. Here you can find everything except what Karl Marx dreamed of: socialism, empowerment of working class and suchlike.
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