Malayalis – celebrities and commoners – who protest loudly about issues across the world, have in the last few days been criticised for their silence about the Brahmapuram dump yard disaster in Kochi. The fire that broke out in the waste dump days ago has not yet been doused and the toxic air from the burning waste has been hurting the mental and physical health of the residents. Several people drew attention to older social media posts such as the Democratic Youth Federation of India’s (DYFI) protest against the Amazon forest fires in 2019. The DYFI is the youth wing of the CPI(M), the party that leads the ruling Left government in Kerala.
On Saturday, March 11, finally, a few celebrities spoke up. However, actor Sajitha Madathil was one of the first to post about the issue, days before all the criticism. “In my teenage years, the Bhopal gas tragedy had led to major strikes in Kerala. I too was part of it. Now, when the city of Kochi is covered in smoke, is there no more reaction in Kerala than channel discussions and social media posts like these? Or do my progressive friends who usually intervene in such issues think it will be against the government?” she wrote.
Actor and rap singer Neeraj Madhav posted on Saturday: “Kochi has turned into a ‘gas chamber’, why are we not addressing this issue with due importance? What is the government doing? We need answers and immediate solutions or this could be the worst manmade disaster in the history of Kerala.” On Sunday, he shared a documentary made by Mahesh Maanas on the Brahmapuram plant, saying that he is ashamed of not being aware of or reacting to such a disaster that was unravelling under our noses.
Sajitha's post
Actor Manju Warrier posted images of the Fire and Rescue personnel at work, saluting them for their efforts. “Kochi is burning without knowing when this plight will end. Let us follow the instructions of the health workers. Let the fire, smoke, and panic end soon and Kochi will come back to being smart again!” she posted on Facebook.
Actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran shared the instructions issued by the district administration and asked everyone to take precautionary measures and stay safe. Aju Varghese also shared the same poster.