The Iron Curtain Of Silence, Kerala Style

Can we mourn a dead revolutionary ? Can we return his mortal remains to the bereaved family and friends ? Can the Kerala society be civil ? Finally, can the ruling Kerala communists uphold the Geneva Convention ?

Kuriakose Mathew

An young revolutionary has been ‘encountered’ in Kerala. He is Maoist for the state, meaning a life that can be annihilated extra judicially. The circumstances of the encounter have not been subjected to democratic accountability. The relatives of the deceased are not allowed even to see the dead body. It is unlikely, going by the vicious tradition of Indian-Kerala state that dead body will be handed over to relatives for mourning.

The uncivil society in Kerala has been observing silence religiously. There is no mourning even. The statist and societal prohibition on mourning, just because the deceased was accused to be a Maoist, points to the fascisation of Kerala society, which even precedes Hindu Nazis.

Can we mourn a dead revolutionary ? Can we return his mortal remains to the bereaved family and friends ? Can the Kerala society be civil ?

Finally, can the ruling Kerala communists uphold the Geneva Convention ?