The Kerala chief of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in a recent interview to Indian Express, has mounted a strange defence against political violence. He said that “Only if BJP workers are alive can they join our party tomorrow”.
CPM Kerala chief Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also denied that his party’s involvement in any way in the state’s political killings and rejected allegations that his party-men aimed to eliminate those from rival fronts. The Communist party leaders seem to have been on the back foot since the rise of the BJP in the state.
“RSS grows in India through communal violence. Like other parts, you cannot foment communal riots here (in Kerala). So here, they are trying to destroy the Marxist party. We don’t need to do that. Only when a BJP worker is alive tomorrow, can he join the Communist party. If he is not there tomorrow, how can he turn? So many BJP leaders are coming towards us…OK, Vasu, Unnikrishnan, Asokan have all joined us. We are not trying to eliminate anyone. No communist will think like that because that person should join us tomorrow. Only if workers of other parties are alive can they join the communist party”, Balakrishnan said.
Balakrishna also spoke about the recent Chengannur by-elections, in which the Communist party had won. He said that the mandate is a prize for the secular politics of the LDF and the policies of our government. He is of the view that the BJP has been always active as a ‘sleeping group’ in Kerala politics. “In past elections, RSS men opposed to us voted for the Congress. They wanted to defeat the CPM so they voted for Congress”, Balakrishnan said.
When questioned about the inefficiency of the state police department in handling law and order issues in the state, Balakrishnan responded by saying that the problems have persisted during UDF regime also but has decreased when compared to UDF regime. He blamed the media for sensationalizing the issue when incidents happen.
The party chief also said that there is a need of an alliance of parties to counter BJP in the coming 2019 elections. He said, he is hopeful of getting more than 18 seats out of 20 seats in Kerala alone. He was of the view that, there should be doing more in the states like West Bengal and Tripura to increase their tally in the next elections.
The party chief said he is open to talks with BJP/RSS leaders whenever such incidents happen. He said that the party has taken a decision to take a lead to ensure such attacks don’t happen. “The party will not condone anyone who gets involved in such attacks. Some incidents have taken place where party workers were involved and we have thrown them out of the party”, he said.
Kannur, the hometown of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been witnessing violent bloodbaths with political murders since a while now. Kannur district is notorious for left-wing terror and has been termed as India’s ‘political murder capital’ by many commentators.
The killings of the RSS/BJP workers have been on the rise since the Communists took power in the state. The state Chief minister has been a mute spectator, who seems to have no interest in stopping the alleged massacre of the RSS/BJP in the state by the communists.
The influence of fundamentalist Islam in the state of Kerala grew substantially over the last few years and is a grave cause of concern for national security. In November last year, Kerala Police confirmed that 6 more youths from Kannur, who allegedly worked with the radical group Popular Front of India (PFI), have joined ISIS.
