Will Police do the same to Bourgeois, Corporates and Politicians who have encroached government’s land?
Rejaz M Sydeek
The finger he raised is towards the State which murdered his Parents and the Silence of people who are still busy with Election Celebrations! Where is the “State Commission for Protection of Child Rights” which rushed to Bineesh Kodiyeri’s House? Yesterday Trivandrum witnessed two things, One was the Celebration of the young Mayor of Trivandrum Corporation and the other one was the Cries of Teenage Children of Dead Couple, 47-year-old Rajan and 40-year old Ambili. Why are the people who have the heart to celebrate the victory of young elected representatives not able to see the pain and cries of Young Rahul and Renjith who lost both their parents, Rajan and Ambili? It’s not a suicide or an accident, it’s an institutional murder committed by the Authorities.
Please note, they are landless and they are “alleged” to have built a temporary shed to live in the encroached land of 3 cents of another person named Vasantha, who is said to be privileged. Vasantha “alleges” that Rajan encroached her land 1 year ago and during the covid time, he built a shed to live there which is illegal to do in her land. The place where Rajan is staying is located at Nettathottam colony in Pongil, Neyyattinkara, Trivandrum District. They didn’t encroach the land like CPI(M) and Congress leaders in Kerala for illegal construction for their Business, this family made a small shed in that alleged encroached land for a living.
On December 22, Officers of Neyyattinkara police station and a judicial commission came to evict Rajan and family from their temporary shed based on Neyyattinkara Munsiff court order. To thwart the eviction and deter the inhumane rude police, Rajan and Ambili doused themselves with petrol and threatened to commit suicide. The kids told that the family was having food together and the police officers shouted and ordered Rajan to evict right now so that they can dismantle the shed. Rajan informed the police that within 30 minutes the Stay Order from High court ordering the freezing of eviction will come and he asked them to wait till then. The children allege that despite knowing about the Stay order, Police showed special interest and wanted to evict them immediately. The family just wanted the authorities to back off from their place and you can see in the video that Rajan had doused the flame from the lighter when he lit it Initially. Then the police officer, Grade SI Anilkumar in an attempt to shove away the lighter from Raju, he tried to snatch the lighter but the officer’s action made the lighter press and fall to Rajan’s chest which made the fire to catch all over the body of Rajan and Ambili. Please note that Rajan held the lighter from a distance away from their body, so it’s crystal clear that he just wanted to delay the eviction process as Stay Order was about to come and Stay came after 30-60 minutes to the unfortunate incident. The order stayed the eviction till January 15 2021, so if the Police and authorities have shown some patience, the kids wouldn’t have been orphans today.
From Rajan’s video taken from the hospital, he stated that he did not try to set the fire but the policeman’s attempt to shove off the lighter resulted in the tragedy and he also added that his wife Ambili is Mentally ill. So is this the way how the police should behave? Were the authorities concerned about an alternative shelter for them when they came for eviction? Especially during Covid, do they expect them to live in the streets? This State is making the marginalised landless poor citizens Mentally ill! While Rajan died on yesterday Morning, Ambili died by Evening. Look here we are not blaming the Police officer alone, the State and authorities are responsible! In the case of Police, The way the situation was dealt should be criticised. When someone is attempting or threatening to commit suicide, won’t the Police or concerned official try to discourage/negotiate with them? Did that happen here? From the video and testimony of the children, the language and behaviour of officers resembled the goons of feudal landlords tasked to evict Dalits and marginalised people. Various Organisations including CPI-ML Red Star have brought out the evidence that Corporates plantation companies like Harrison and TATA Kannan Devan have encroached Lakhs of Acres of Government land in Kerala. Will Police create a scene at LDF MLA PV Anwar’s and Former LDF Cabinet Minister Thomas Chandy’s encroachment site? Will Police do the same to Bourgeois, Corporates and Politicians who have encroached government’s land ??? No, so only Dalits, Muslims and people from weaker sections will only face the wrath of State.
There are lakhs of Acres of Land which are encroached by Corporate companies with the knowledge of State in Kerala which should be redistributed for the landless people. Hours before Ambili died, 17-year-old son, Renjith was digging alone for burying Rajan and it was painful to hear Renjith’s powerful emotional words when Police Obstructed him. Did you notice the language/ action of Police from the video? Not only they obstructed the digging, one officer mocked Renjith by replying “For that what should I do?”, When the kid said, “Now only my mother is left, you all have killed my father”! This shows the level of Humanity in those Police officers. How cruel and inhumane are these authorities, especially during the time of Covid when people are facing financial crisis? Renjith told they are living in very poor condition and he added that the request for Water Connection and Electricity was rejected when they approached the authorities.
Look first of all people are forced to beg/request before the authorities for their Rights! Are we living under some kind of monarchy or feudal system, where poor people got to beg first and then die? Food, Shelter, Medical Care and Education are something which state should guarantee for every citizen. Here in case of Rajan, he doesn’t have the basic thing, shelter. As of last wish, Rajan asked his sons to continue providing food to the homeless people which he did daily. To the parliamentary left people who says why are criticisers highlighting the upper caste status of elected representatives, why are you silent on this issue where victims are from ecomomically weaker section? Your Silence is Betrayal and shows your Selective interests and activism. To the people who are busy defending State government, When Plantation workers of Munnar hailing from Tamil-Malayali Dalit and minority communities were protesting for “Land” and Better Wages, CPIM Minister MM Mani equated them with Prostitutes. I just now called the Plantation workers leader Comrade Gomathy and confirmed it again, so this shows the hypocrisy shown by CPIM in case of landless people. State Government should take up the responsibility of Rahul and Renjith and they should break their silence on this.
Redistribute Land to Landless Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims and other Minorities.
_ 2020 Dec 29
