CPI(M), RSS members murdered as their relatives watch in Kannur

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two workers belonging to the CPI(M) and the BJP were killed on Tuesday night in Kerala’s Kannur, a district notorious for red-saffron clashes.

A CPI(M) worker was stabbed to death in Payyanur in the wee hours and later, an RSS worker was killed in similar fashion.

Their houses were attacked and they were stabbed in front of their relatives, police said. CPI(M) worker Dhanraj (32) was killed first. Hours later, CK Ramachandran, an auto-rickshaw driver, was stabbed to death. Both CPI(M) and RSS-BJP blamed each other for the violence. They had also called a shutdown in Payannur and surrounding areas.

Notorious for the spiralling cycle of violence between the two parties, the district had witnessed at least 200 killings in last two decades. Many maimed and crippled victims of political clashes roam around as a sad reminder of the politics of intolerance.

When it comes to ideology and retaliation, RSS and CPM, outsmart each other in precision and planning.

The two parties virtually compete to create martyrs and build colourful columns over bodies of their dead workers. They have no qualms in displaying their memorials and they nurture ‘killing squads’ to equal their ‘goals,’ a term used in local parlance to settle political scores. A missing flag, defacing of a party wall or damage to a bus shelter in the name of a martyr are enough to ignite a fresh round of violence.