Leftists in Kerala not off the wall
Meeting a living poster
icon of democratic India's notorious episode in the pages of its history, that
too on its anniversary, was awesome. It was purely a coincidence that I met K.
Ajitha, a firebrand socio-political activist, on July 26! To my surprise she
has forgotten that it was the 36th anniversary of Declaration of Emergency in India.
An embarrassed look and
silence, upon my reminder, spoke volumes of harsh experiences she had met as a
young radical leader in late 1960’s and 1970’s. The only daughter of hardcore
Naxal leaders Kunnikkal Narayanan and Mandakini, the 19-year-old revolutionary
took part in Pulpally Station attack on Nov.22, 1968 along with a group of
armed activists. Ajitha was arrested, sent to solitary confinement, and she
left the movement after spending more than seven years in jail.
But in her inimitable
stoic manner, she did not allow that ‘closed’ chapters of history to invade her
thoughts while talking about her present activities ranging from perennial
issues of women in Kerala and the recent political murder that has shaken up
the roots of Kerala’s political milieu.
Though she could in no
way be compared to her past activities, the born-fighter in her is still keen
on “eliminating” social evils and empowering women through an all-women-team
magazine, one of its first kinds in Kerala named Sanghaditha. The monthly
magazine has Sara
Joseph, a prolific
writer-activist as its editor. It is run by Anweshi, the leading woman’s organisation,
focusing on social issues across the state.
Lashing out at the Congress-led
Oommen Chandy government’s lackluster attitude towards women issues, Ajitha
pitched for an alternative Leftist political group, which is very-much needed
in contemporary social scene in Kerala. She disagreed with the allegation that
Leftist movement is disintegrating in the state.
‘VS, my leader’
Isn’t it the CPI-M that
is disintegrating? You could see so many alternative movements that are
springing up across Kerala. Personally speaking, people like us badly need a
Left government as they are more considerate in dealing social issues than the
Congress party.
She said the political
environment prevailing now is not conducive either for left or Congress. “Opportunist
politics that we have seen in the election in Neyyattinkara by-election is the
biggest example. I would have felt happiness if Rajagopal (even if he belongs
to communal Bharatiya
Janata Party) won the
election. Congress candidate Selvaraj’s win shows how far opportunist politics
could go. But I am sure Bengal won’t be repeated in Kerala.
“There is no point in
blaming the people. The politicians have created such a situation that they
voted for Selvaraj. Congress has made use of TP murder for their political
mileage in Neyyattinkara, but I don’t think they have a hand in that brutal
murder.”
Ajitha lauded the stance
taken by veteran Communist party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader VS
Achuthanandan in the sensational murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP)
leader TP Chandrasekharan.
“Other than VS, I don’t
see a reliable leader now, who we can easily approach to highlight social
issues. But he is sidelined by own party and demoralised by Congress. Thought
VS is in a Catch 22 situation, it is good to see he is fighting back.
“I strongly believe
CPI-M party leadership has a role in TP murder case. Chandrasekharan, who
opposed political killings, became a common enemy for the Congress and CPI-M in
Onchiyam, as people drew closer to him. CPI-M leaders find no other way, but to
cleanse him from the
leftist soil of
Onchiyam. Do you think contract-killers will consider timing of election when
they confront their prey?
On Revolution
Ajitha feels the ongoing
crisis in CPI-M will in turn revamp the party. She was of the opinion Bengal
won’t be repeated in Kerala.
“If people of Kerala
have gone away from leftist ideology and revolutionary ideals, it is just
because common man has his rights granted, poverty is not a big issue and after
all it indicates people are satisfied.
"I don't think
Kerala economy is strong. The productive processes are so anti people.
Our agriculture which
was mainly food producing has changed over years and decades to cash crops
producing agriculture, which means dependence on international market on
prices. This is the main reason for the phenomenon of peasant suicides all over
India and especially Kerala.Our small-scale industry scene is so pathetic because
the market has been totally liberalised.
"What I want to say
is the productive sector is stagnant, resulting in an economy which depends
totally on other states or even international market for its people's needs. Whenever
a strike by lorry operators occur there is panic because we will be directly
affected. But peasant suicides don't affect us directly! This means we have a
very weak economy on top of which Tourism has been imposed by World Bank and
IMF, and the policy of globalisation. The reason for Kerala not having total
starvation is mainly due to the flow of Gulf money, through its NRIs."
On Women
Ajitha agreed with the
increasing level of atrocities against women in Kerala despite its colourful
records in social indices. She expressed deep concern over dowry deaths and
moral policing that have affected certain “pockets” of Kerala. She was of the
opinion that though the young generation women have a new approach to life,
they lack self-confidence to deal with
unexpected, conflicting
situations that may arise in everyday life.
She also expressed her
helplessness to understand the real reason behind ‘mental retardation’ among
girl population.
Setting a trend for
women publications, Sanghaditha has decided not to entertain advertisements
from jewellery groups as part of their anti-dowry campaign. She appreciated
women activists and writers, who write voluntarily for Sangaditha, which was
started in 2009.
She denied Sangaditha is
a tool to revive feminism and as a platform for just feminists. She insisted it
is a publication that deals with common issues of society and women, in a
feminist perspective. She also reminded that it took six years of relentless
efforts to make it happen.
She clarified doubts
about scholarly writings helping common people and issues.
“Do you think an
ordinary woman will be able to write things for themselves. That’s why you see
academicians, litterateurs, media persons in the magazine. We are united for
common purpose and nobody is taking remuneration.
"I don’t bother the
criticism coming against all-women team. I know there won’t be any shortage of
male writers for any subject. But by employing a woman to write issues related
to more
serious subjects like
environment, labour, media, it becomes a challenge to her and it will develop
her skills too. Thereby, we are creating new set of writers who might have been
sidelined in mainstream.”
On Dowry Deaths
Expressing her shock in
the increasing number of dowry deaths and other offences, she said, “With the
gold rate shooting up, shockingly, the demand for dowry too is growing. Dowry
does not end with the marriages in the prevailing system. Why should we need
hard and fast rules for women alone when it comes to marriage? Girls are forced
to leave their home the day she gets
married? Naturally she
finds it difficult to handle hostile situations of new home. These days even in
love marriages, girls do not feel safe. She has to get into love affairs, with
so many apprehensions. Naturally, she opts for arranged marriages.”
But she rubbished
reports of “love jihad” that has taken the society by storm. She said those
were fabricated incidents with the intention of polarizing a secular society,
communally.
Ajitha also drew
attention to several instances of sexual scandals and expressed her anguish for
justice being denied to victims.
“When victims are denied
justice by state machinery, it sends a misleading message to the society. It is
not difficult to see an organised mafia in sexual scams. Our democratic system
is politically corrupt and weak to take measures to safeguard the victims.”
She agreed that
education is not helping the women in Kerala in protecting herself from gender
injustices. She blamed social conditioning as the biggest block in empowering
girls to speak up for herself.
“It is a question of
mindset, which is reinforced by social and cultural elements. Girls are
expected to think and act in a certain set of rules stipulated by the society.
See how movies are portraying women. Of course, contemporary Malayalam cinema
presents women protagonists breaking away from clichéd roles on screen. But if
you ask me whether that change is happening in real life, sadly it is not happening.
Of course, there are girls who are able to think in a different way. But there
is little that boosts the confidence of girls and segregation of sexes is also affecting
in creating healthy environment for a girl to develop along with her male
counterpart.
There comes the role of
Sanghaditha.
“If domestic violence is
being highlighted now, it is not because women have started resisting to it,
but the civil society has adopted it as its issue. Domestic violence has broken
out of family circles and came under public purview.
"We have long
forgotten that we are agrarian society, based on food crops. But globalisation
has transformed food crop-based economy to cash crop. It is not hard to see
that women too have become a commodity in the market.”
Sex scandals
She finds tourism as the
biggest catalyst in luring young women to flesh trade, knowingly and
unknowingly. The women, acting as middle agents, in this thriving business are
difficult to be broken as they were part of prostitution rings.
“They are hard nuts to
be broken off from their shells. They are so negatively charged that they don’t
feel any prick of conscience in trapping young girls into the rackets. And Men
think they have the right over women, whom he considers as an object of
interest. It is a question of power only,” she added.
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