Dec 09, 2000

Kannur, what happened to you?

In the morning, his mother prepared a plate of tapioca and a cup of tea for Biju. He has to set out for his daily job. But the assailants were ready. They have had enough food to nab him. They rushed into the house, and asked for Babu. “We want him”, they shouted.

“Nobody is here except my youngest son”, the mother replied humbly. But the assailants were in no mood to care the mother’s voice. They noticed Babu’s brother. They had to finish the target. They had to tick the square of their murder register. They stared at Babu's brother Biju.

They were in rage, they were in hurry, and they did it. When Biju immediately fled the scene for about 1,000 metres before he took refuge in a neighbour’s residence, the assailants dragged him out of the house after breaking the front door and chopped his head off with an axe. The mother finally found 
her son in a pool of blood far away from their home.

Assailant's target was Babu, an active worker. But in the absence of Babu, the assassins had to finish the target. His brother was too much for that. They are satisfied. No bothering of a family, not the collapsing mother, not the community, and not even the Almighty. Now the death toll raised to 6. When again?

Telephone rang. But, Kannurians did not attend any telephone call in the recent murder days. They will cut the phone while ringing. They did not come out of their home. Children sat frightened; feared they may lose their kith and kin. Men, who feared death, were out of their home. No rise, no vegetable and other essential commodities were unavailable. Bomb blasts were common in the notorious areas of Panur and Koothuparamba, which remembered Vishu or Deevali. The killing ended when the death toll equaled in both sides.

This is Kannur. If you are coming to a party gramam, you will be watched closely. You will be chased unknowingly, sometimes interviewed. Nobody has ever understood the psyche of this murder politics. But the active political interference on the duty of police can be the unique reason. The police force has showed their disappointment by not attending a peace conference called by the district collector. Intelligence failure, frequent transfers of police officers on political grounds and the lack of political will to curb the large-scale manufacture of explosives again triggered a fresh bout of violence, leaving 6 dead. 

Asna, who lost her leg in a recent bomb blast, one of the youngest victims of political violence in Kannur, asks for her right leg. She wants to play with her friends. Who will give? Can anybody?

According to Bharath Mohanlal, we need an Avathara. That is true. We need an Avathara. We need an Avathara in Kannur, in Kashmir, Iraq, Somalia and where not?