February 22 marks the fifth death anniversary of A Madhu, a 30-year-old tribal youth who was lynched in Kerala’s Attappadi, over allegations that he stole rice from a grocery shop. Though there was a huge uproar after the incident, the trial in the case is still dragging on. Several witnesses in the case turned hostile making people worry whether justice would be delivered.
The tragic circumstances in which 46-year-old Viswanathan from a tribal community died after being accused of theft has now brought back memories of Madhu, leading to social media outrage from citizens, tribal rights activists, and writers. A resident of Paravayal colony of Wayanad, Viswanathan belonged to the Paniya tribe. On February 11, he was found dead on the premises of the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, where his wife delivered a child on February 9.
Activists point out that there were injuries on Viswanathan’s body, but police maintain that they were caused when he climbed the tree to hang himself. “A cut on the eye and lip. A mark below the neck as if hit by a rock. Six scars that occurred before death, including on the knee. There is CCTV footage of Vishwanathan running in fear. He was being chased to a place near the wall where there is no CCTV. He must have been beaten by those who knew this. He hasn’t climbed a tree even for fun. Viswanathan had said that he can’t climb a tree at his place of work... This is murder. Genocide,” wrote tribal rights activist Dhanya Raman on her Facebook page.
A group of poets who write in tribal languages also released a statement demanding the arrest of the people responsible for his death. Stating that Viswanathan’s wife Bindu and their relatives have consistently maintained that there was no reason for him to die by suicide because a child was born to the couple on February 9 after an eight-year wait. The statement said that in the tribal areas of Attappady and Wayanad, tribal communities are facing racist assaults. “Behind such events is the perception that tribal community members are second-class citizens, thieves, criminals, and alcoholics. Society sees them not as citizens but as slaves. It is caused by an impudence that any atrocities can be committed on tribespeople who don’t have power, wealth or resources. This is absolutely demeaning for Kerala which prides itself to be a modern society,” the statement signed by Sukumaran Chaligadha, P Shivalingan, Dhanya Vengacherry, and Bindu Irulam, among others, said.
The Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangam (PuKaSa), a progressive arts and literary organisation aligned to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has also expressed concern over Viswanathan’s death.
“Kerala is the region where the renaissance movement took place against judging people based on their caste, religion, colour, appearance, and clothes. It should be concluded that Kerala society is also getting swayed by the propaganda carried out against the Indian Constitution which includes modern values, democracy, and secularism,” said the statement.