The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government haven’t had the best year with 2020. From March of this year, the State has been dealing with the Corona pandemic, gold smuggling, Life Mission scam, data leak and many others. With several central agencies conducting investigations in the State and the Enforcement Directorate arresting former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar, the tide has turned against the CPI (M)-led government. With the party’s state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s son Bineesh under ED custody, the tide has also turned against the party. With the latest Maoist killing in Wayanad, old wounds reopen in the state.
Corruption allegations aside, CPI (M) has taken more flak for the alleged “fake encounters” that has taken place in the state. The party’s largest ally CPI has also criticised the former for their stand in these issues. When the Thunderbolt commandos shot and killed the alleged Maoist in Wayanad on Tuesday, many have come forward to cry foul. The inquest is in process, and further investigation will reveal what really happened. However, it is not as simple as that. Past similar events are important to understand the nuances.
In November 2016, Thunderbolt commandos shot and killed Kuppu Devaraj — a senior central committee member — and Ajitha — the outfit’s Karnataka woman leader. However, the incident invited criticism for many reasons. Firstly, the two dead Maoist members had no cases registered against them in Kerala. Secondly, while the commandos claim that the insurgents fired first, no weapons were recovered. The CPI criticised the Pinarayi government and asked them “not to ape” the Modi government.
In March 2019, police shot and killed Maoist leader CP Jaleel in Vythiri in Wayanad. The official report claimed that Jaleel and a few others arrived at a resort and demanded cash and provision. As the police arrived, they escaped into the forest and shot at the officers. The latter returned fire and killed CP Jaleel. The initial investigation revealed that the police’s claims might be a bit problematic since the ballistic report claimed that Jaleel’s gun hadn’t made a single shot. What pushed activists to the case was the resort manager’s claim. While the police said that the manager had called them when the Maoists were holding the resort staff hostage, the manager stated that the Maoists hadn’t taken any hostages and none of the hotel staff called for the police. The manager also added that the police had fired first. However, the state police and its head, Pinarayi Vijayan, stuck with the official claim. A post mortem result also seemed to put the police on the block, but a magisterial inquiry validated the police claims.
The next encounter would happen sooner than later, as the police would shoot and kill four Maoists — Manivasakam, Karthi, Aravind, and Rama. According to a few sources, the Maoists had informed the authorities about their willingness to surrender. However, police reports claim that they had attacked the team and thus the officers had no choice but to return fire. The event had garnered widespread criticism. Initial forensic and ballistic reports were against the state. The CPI fact-finding commission would also disagree with the state’s narrative. However, Pinarayi Vijayan and the police would stand their ground. The CM on an occasion has so far gone to claim that the Maoists are not “holy souls” or “lambs”.
The problem is that the Maoists in Kerala have not been as violent as their counterparts in other states. The argument of them attacking police first has always been suspicious. The Kerala Maoists have relied on literature and speeches to rally people, and because of that, the state has used this excuse to term dissent as Maoist activity and then charge them with UAPA. Allan Shuhaib and Thwaha Fazal are prime examples in recent times.
For all their ideologies, the CPI (M), ever since they got into power, has been demanding to strengthen their armed police and has requested for support from the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in power. This is while CPI (M) has often criticised the BJP for using their powers to crush dissent in other states. The Wayanad incident feels eerily similar to past events. The mystery behind the incident, lack of information from authorities, the similar claims all reopen the old wounds.
