New Delhi: The maiden documentation of killings of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteers in Kerala over a period of seven decades is all set to hit the stands in the form of a book, elucidating the infamous ‘Kannur model’ of violence.
The book, authored by retired professor A.K.M. Das and titled RSS in Kerala: A Saga of Struggle, will be released by RSS Sarsanghchalak (chief) Mohan Bhagwat on 29 December at Kozhikode.
This is a first-of-its kind complete documentation about violence against RSS in Kerala where it has been fighting against the communists.
The 200-page book has been published by RSS-backed Kesari publication.
J. Nandakumar, a senior RSS pracharak (full-time worker) and national coordinator of ‘Prajna Pravah’, another RSS-backed organisation that works among intellectuals and academics, has written a detailed introduction to the book launching a scathing attack on the Left.
‘Communist terror’
Nandakumar, a native of Kerala, is known for his first-hand knowledge and experience of the ground situation in the state. In the introduction to the book, he has explained in a no-holds-barred manner the plight of the opponents of communists in the state.
“The daunting situation prevailing in Kannur and other communist strongholds in Kerala, where CPI(M) denies other political parties and nationalist organisations like the RSS the right to work in the public sphere, has not been a locally emerging scenario. Kerala, particularly Kannur district, has a long history of political violence and murders, in which umpteen numbers of RSS swayamsevaks have fallen prey to the communist terror,” he wrote in the introduction.
Explaining the ‘Kannur model’ of violence, Nandakumar wrote, “The cruel and abhorrent blood-sport of CPI(M) started with the killing of Vadikkal Ramakrishnan in 1969…
“Later on, it has been proved to be a ‘template’ for the serial murders, and it is now being projected with much élan as the ‘Kannur Model’ in the CPI(M) circles. It is considered an effective way to silence the voice of dissent and assert the communist suzerainty and hegemony in the region. Since then, in Kerala, more than 270 swayamsevaks and RSS-BJP sympathisers have been murdered.
“There are many youngsters who have been maimed by their criminal gangs. For these youngsters, death would have been more of a boon than their present pitiable life, in which they have been forced to remain confined to their beds because of their pitiable physical condition. There are still others who are unable to do any work because of their permanent bodily injuries caused by the wanton violence of the communists,” he wrote.
Also read: 200 dead in five decades, but political violence still haunts Kerala’s Kannur
Author’s note
In the author’s note, Das wrote in the book: “My study shows that almost all those who were murdered belonged either to lower-middle class families or families living in poverty Also, many of those who were killed were the sole bread-winners of their families.
“I have had the opportunity to listen to the heart-rending stories of shocking deaths of the parents of those who were killed, as the loss they suffered was more than they could bear. I could also witness the anguish and trauma writ large on the faces of the widows who lost their husbands, and the children who lost their loving fathers. For me, it was a most painful experience, which will last in my memory for a long time to come,” wrote Das, who has a degree in medicine.
The book, according to RSS functionaries, would help a great deal in exposing the false narrative built by the Left parties in Kerala.
Nandkumar wrote in the introduction: “The history of political violence in Kerala could be a classic example of this Leftist deception. The communist intellectuals tried their best to suppress and sweep the stories of violence under the carpet until the advent of the social media. When it was challenged, they built a narrative in defence of CPI(M) with the help of their propaganda machinery, the mainstream media dominated by Leftists and ‘card-holding’ trade unionist journalists of the CPI(M).
“How did they keep reality away from the general public? How can stories of brutal murders in the killing fields of Kannur be kept concealed from the public eye? When the communists accuse the RSS of the crime, it fits in their larger narrative of demonising the RSS as an ‘intolerant, anti-minority, aggressive’ organisation. The communists have devised their ideology and jargon in such a way to defend and justify every crime they commit,” he added.
(The writer is a research director with Vichar Vinimay Kendra and has authored two books on RSS).
Also read: Both eyes for an eye: inside Kerala’s vicious cycle of RSS-CPM revenge killings
Ha Rss talking about terror. Ban Rss