Thiruvananthapuram: In an attempt to bring back the attention of the public to the political violence in Kannur, senior Congress leader and former chief minister Oommen Chandy said that political violence, including murder, in Kannur is a topic to be dealt seriously in the wake of elections. Chandy on Thursday released official details about the political murders in Kannur which he got through the Right to Information Act.
According to official data, 125 political murders happened in Kannur district during the period 1984-2018. “However, the numbers are much more than this according to unofficial records,” said Chandy. It is the BJP which has lost the highest number of individuals in the political violence. When they lost 53, CPM lost 46, Congress 19 and Muslim League seven members.
“The important fact is that the CPM workers are the accused in 78 of these murders. BJP is accused in 39 while there is only one case against the Congress. This makes it very clear that it is the CPM and the BJP that are playing the main role in the political murders in Kannur,” said Chandy.
He also said that the data available through RTI makes it clear that the number of political murders comes down during UDF rule while it goes up during the LDF rule. There were 56 political murders in the district during June 2006 to May 2011 when LDF government was in power. In the next five years when UDF was in power there were 25 political murders.
CBI is probing six brutal murders that have happened in Kannur and nearby areas. This include the murders of Ariyil Shukkoor, Kathiroor Manoj, Payyoli Manoj, Mohammed Fazal and the double murder in Payyoli. The LDF government is legally spending crores to prevent CBI probe in the murder of Youth Congress leader Suhaib in Mattannur. In all these cases, CPM members are the accused.
Kannur is the stronghold of the CPM in the state. Here no other political parties have the freedom to work, Chandy said. “Whoever raises their finger against the CPM here, they will chop it off,” he said.
Chandy also released a documentary about the political murders in Kannur ‘Daivathinte Nattile Chorakkalikal’ made by KPCC press secretary P T Chacko at a function at Indira Bhavan.