25 years ago today a bone-chilling incident that took place in Kerala exposed the bestiality of the Communist cadres of Kerala. On January 25, 1994, Sadanandan Master was returning from his uncle’s house in the evening after discussing the arrangements for his sister’s wedding which was to take place on February 6. As he got down from the bus and started walking towards his home, some people grabbed him from behind pinned him to the ground and started beating him. They were CPI(M) goons who not only brutally beat him up but also chopped off both his legs. All this happened because Sadanandan Master no longer agreed with the Communist ideology and had shifted to the RSS ideology. This was a warning to all those who might be thinking of leaving the Communist fold.
Sadanandan was 30 when this horrific incident happened. He was a teacher at the government-aided Kuzhikkal Lower Primary School at Perinchery, Mattanur municipality. He came from a family of communists. His father was an active member of the CPM. His elder brother was the in-charge of the student wing at the Zilla level. Sadanandan himself was an active member of the Student Federation of India (SFI) till 1984.
Sadanandan’s inclination towards the ideology of the Sangh was not a sudden shift. He tells that he was actively involved in Sangh activities till school days. During his graduation days, he was drawn to the Communist ideology but the RSS’ idea of cultural nationalism still resonated with him. Malayalam poet Akkitham’s article ‘Bharata Dharshanangal’ had a great influence on Sadanandan and it caused his complete shift to the Sangh ideology.
But this did not go down well with the Communists who first tried to persuade him and then resorted to their usual violent ways. In 2016, Sadanandan contested the assembly election on BJP ticket from Koothuparamba constituency which is infamous for political murders against the LDF leader K K Shailja. Back then Prime Minister Narendra Modi had saluted the courage of Sadanandan and other BJP and RSS members who faced the violence of Communists in Kerala.
The communist violence in God’s own country has not come down till date. Ideological intolerance persists in the politics of Kerala. The killing of BJP/RSS members has only risen since the communist government came to power in the State.
