Parallel to the ongoing Dalit stir at Bhajanamadam in Vadayampady demanding right of way over a ground in their neighbourhood, the CPI(M) will hold a march and a public meeting on January 29 raising the same demand.
Party district secretary P. Rajeev will inaugurate the meeting organised by the Kolencherry area committee at 5 p.m.
CPI(M) leaders said it was the first political formulation to take up the issue back in 2016 and insist that what has been a public ground in front of the NSS local unit-governed Bhajanamadam Devi temple be retained as such.
It is now a public space
“The NSS may have obtained a patta (title deed) in 1981, but the ground has so far been retained as a public space with least interventions. Our view is that it should remain unfenced and accessible to all communities in the area,” he said.
Distancing themselves from the stir now spearheaded by the Dalit Bhoo Avakasha Samara Munnani, the CPI(M) leaders alleged that the struggle led by the locals had been appropriated by ‘other elements’ which lent it an ‘unsavoury colour.’
“We aren’t aligning with anyone except the people of the area,” Mr. Rajeev told The Hindu.
Activists of the Dalit Bhoo Avakasha Samara Munnai had in April 2017 pulled down a wall built around the ground and have remained on stir ever since.
The agitation drew national attention when the police demolished their tent in an early morning action and arrested activists and journalists.
They also arrested rights activist and protest support group convener V.K. Joy, member of the Janakeeya Manushyavakasha Prasthanam which is seen as being extreme Left, on charges of atrocities against SCs and STs on a complaint by a section of the local Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha members.
The CPI(M)’s bid to take out a march on Monday for the public of Vadayampady was disparaged by a section of activists on social media on Saturday who snubbed it as an attempt to earn elbowroom in a public struggle that has received mass support.
