Members of the Youth Congress staged a protest against literary figures in the Kerala Sahitya Akademi in Thrissur on Thursday, for not condemning the double political murder which took place in Kasaragod.
Accusing literary figures with left leaning ideology of keeping mum on the murders, the protestors offered them plantain stems (or Vazhapindi) to symbolise a lack of sensitivity.
District Congress Committee President John Daniel, who inaugurated the protest, said that it was high time left leaning leaders underwent a people’s trial, according to reports.
Calling the ‘silence’ of the cultural leaders shameful, John Daniel said that these literary figures do not have the moral right to write anymore, if they do not see the sorrow of the two families of the victims.
“These people who write volumes even when a penguin dies in Antarctica, are still mum when it comes to these murders. It is a shame on the culture of Kerala,” Daniel said. He also said that the CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan condemned the deaths fearing public ire, but these cultural leaders could not.
On Tuesday, 24-year old Sharath Lal and 22-year old Kripesh, both Youth Congress members from Kasaragod, were hacked to death allegedly by a local CPI(M) leader. The incident took place in Kalyott which is a Congress bastion. According to sources, the accused CPI(M) leader Peethambaran and the two deceased had a feud one month ago, which boiled over and led to the deaths of Sharath and Kripesh.
The Bekal Police have arrested Peethambaran following the incident and charged him under IPC section 302 (murder).
Reacting to the Sahitya Akademi protest, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that such attacks on cultural leaders would not be entertained.
“Kerala Sahitya Akademi represents the cultural world of Malayalam. The fact that some anti-social forces have gone there and insulted the artists is extremely horrible. Nobody has the right to dictate how artists should react. It is not in Kerala’s culture to insult artists and literary figures. There is no question of entertaining such attacks,” his statement read.