Political activism in Kerala

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For an overview about the politics in Kerala, see Politics of Kerala.

Vyttila junction during a hartal
SIgnboard by CPI(M) for blockading the Ernakulam Collectorate
Mural by Farmers' Union, Alappuzha
Ranadive Memorial, Alappuzha
Election campaign in Kerala
A rally by toddy worker's trade union
Vypin Strike
Kiss of Love protest 2014

Kerala is a politically-active society in India, with a politically active and aware population. Many of the news events happening in Kerala are related to the political events happening in the state.[1]

Hartals[edit]

A record total of 223 hartals were observed in 2006. There were around 363 "Hartals", called by different political parties, between 2005 and 2012. Hartals are called for various political, economic and social reasons.[2][3]

Political violence[edit]

Between 2000 and 2017, Kerala reported at least 80 political murders.[4] The state also reported the third-highest number of murders committed (12) due to political reasons in 2015, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.[5] In the last 17 years, 85 CPM workers, 65 RSS or BJP workers, 11 workers of Congress and IUML each have been killed - mostly by their political rivals.[6]

Between 2000 and 2016, Kannur district in Kerala reported 69 political murders, with RSS losing almost as many workers as CPM, according to The Hindustan Times. Kannur is considered to be a bastion of Kerala’s communist movement since the 1930s. The district is the homeland of communist veterans like A. K. Gopalan, E. K. Nayanar and Azhikodan Raghavan. Kannur is said to be the state’s most violent territory – more so with the advent of the RSS in the 1960s.[7] Clashes between the RSS and the CPI(M) have claimed over 300 lives since 1969.[8]

Political murders after 2010[edit]

Sl. No. Date Name Organisations Location
1 15.11.2021 Sanjith RSS Palakkad
2 18.12.2021 KS Shan SDPI Alappuzha
3 19.12.2021 Ranjith Srinivas RSS Alappuzha
4 15.04.2022 Subair SDPI Palakkad
5 16.04.2022 Sreenivasan RSS Palakkad
6 14.08.2022 Shajahan CPIM Palakkad

Kiss of Love protest[edit]

Kiss of Love protest was a non-violent protest against moral policing, which started in Kerala, India, and later spread to other parts of India.[9][10][11][12][13] The movement began when a Facebook page called 'Kiss of love' called forth the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on 2 November 2014, at Marine Drive, Cochin.[14][15] The movement received widespread support with more than 154,404 'Likes' for the Facebook page.[16][17] After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organised in other major cities of the country. It received opposition from various religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena and Ernakulam wing of Kerala Students Union.[18][19][20][21] On specific occasions but not exclusively, both the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments.[22][23][24][25][26]

Legal remedies[edit]

In 2015, the provincial government in Kerala introduced a law that tried to control hartals and bandhs. According to this new bill, a notification of three days is required for any public agitation. The draft gives the government powers to cancel a strike announced by any party. A punishment of six months' imprisonment is included in the draft bill.[27]

Leftist inclination[edit]

The social thought and behaviour of the State in general has a strong inclination towards leftism and thus the communist parties have made strong inroads in Kerala. Kerala was the first Indian state where the communists were voted to power.[28] The Malabar region, particularly Kannur and Palakkad are considered to heartland of communist parties. The Kollam and Alapuzha districts, where trade unions have very strong presence, are generally inclined towards the left parties; though the Congress-led UDF have won elections from the constituencies of these districts several times. The largest communist party in terms of membership is CPI(M) followed by CPI.

History[edit]

SL No Date Called By Reason Ref
1 18-01-2012 Mullaperiyar Samrakshna Samiti Mullaperiyar Dam Row [29]
2 28-02-2012 Trade unions in India Protest against the 'neo-liberal economic & labour policies' pursued by the Central Government [30]
3 05-05-2012 UDF Protest Against Murder of T. P. Chandrasekharan
4 24-05-2012 LDF & BJP Petrol Price Hike
5 02-08-2012 CPI(M) Protest Against the arrest of CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan
6 15-09-2012 LDF & BJP Petrol Price Hike

Hartals in 2018[edit]

SL No Date Called By Reason Ref
1 22-Jan-2018 CITU, AITUC, INTUC, Trade Unions [Privatisation of PSUs, Labour Laws] "News Report on 2018-01-22 from Business Line". 2 September 2015.
1 02-Apr-2018 CITU, AITUC, INTUC, STU, HMS, UTUC, Trade Unions [Fixed Term Employment Rules] "News Report on 2018-03-31 from Manorama News".
1 9-Apr-2018 Dalit Organisations [Police action against Dalits in north India] "News Report on 2018-04-09 from News 18". 9 April 2018.
2 29-May-2018 UDF,BJP,BDJS, KC(M) [Kevin Joseph Murder] "News Report on 2018-05-29 from Hindu News". The Hindu. 29 May 2018.
2 07-Aug-2018 CITU, AITUC, INTUC [Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2017] "News Report on 2018-05-29 from Manorama".
2 10-Sep-2018 LDF, UDF [Fuel Price Hike] "News Report on 2018-05-29 from UNI".
2 16-Oct-2018 UDF [Anti-people policies by the state and Centre] "News Report on 2018-05-29 from HT". 16 October 2017.
3 14-Dec-2018 BJP [Sabarimala Issue] "News Report on 14-12-2018 from TOI". The Times of India. 14 December 2018.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Onmanorama Kerala News". OnManorama. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  2. ^ "363 Hartals in 7 years in Kerala!" - A News Report on 16-09-2012 from Deccan Chronicle
  3. ^ "India - 363 hartals in 7 years in Kerala!" - A News Report on 17-09-2012 from Pressenza
  4. ^ "Kerala and political killings: As CPM-RSS clash, here's a list of those killed from both camps in past year". Firstpost. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Kerala: In BJP-RSS vs CPM clashes, roughly equal number of deaths on both sides". Hindustan Times. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Several Clashes Between CPM, BJP Supporters Reported Across Kerala". NDTV.com. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  7. ^ Alison Saldanha, Factchecker in & Gangadhar Patil. "In Kannur, RSS-BJP and CPI(M) have lost equal numbers to political violence". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  8. ^ Jacob, Jeemon (20 October 2016). "The killing fields of Kannur". India Today. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  9. ^ "'Kiss of Love' protests rattle Modi's conservative India". Reuters. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  10. ^ "'Kiss of Love' spreads to Kolkata". Zee News. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  11. ^ "'Kiss of Love' Campaign Spreads to Kolkata, Delhi - New America Media". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  12. ^ K C, Ramesh Babu (29 October 2014). "'Kiss of Love' to protest moral policing in Kerala". Hindustan Times. HT Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  13. ^ Hashim, Farmis (3 November 2014). "Demonstrators kiss to protest 'moral policing' in Kerala". The Observers. France24. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Kiss of Love: Kochi's version of Pink Chaddi campaign to fight moral policing". Firstpost. Network 18. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  15. ^ Philip, Shaju (28 October 2014). "Youth to mark Nov 2 as 'Kiss Day' to challenge moral policing in Kerala". The Indian Express. Indian Express Group. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  16. ^ https://www.facebook.com/kissoflovekochi: [user-generated source]
  17. ^ "'Kiss of love' plan gets more support in Kerala". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Wary Cops Nab Around 50 'Kiss of Love' Protesters". Archived from the original on 6 November 2014.
  19. ^ http://www.deccanchronicle.com/141103/nation-current-affairs/article/kiss-love-protest-police-blamed-giving-free-hand-miscreants: Archived 3 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Kerala's 'Kiss of Love' Protest, Planned for Sunday, Draws Opposition". NDTV.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  21. ^ "Student organisations condemn 'Kiss of Love'". The Hindu. 31 October 2014.
  22. ^ "SC clean chit to Gere in Shilpa kissing row". IBNLive. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  23. ^ "BBC News - South Asia - Richard Gere cleared of obscenity". 14 March 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  24. ^ "BBC News - South Asia - India couple's kiss 'not obscene'". 3 February 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  25. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Kissing-in-public-by-married-couple-not-obscene-HC/articleshow/4066941.cms: Archived 31 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090218/jsp/opinion/story_10552589.jsp: Archived 12 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "Kerala government introduces new bill against Hartal". 24 August 2015.
  28. ^ Snapshots - India's final voting day BBC News
  29. ^ "News Report on 18-01-2012 from Mathrubhumi". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013.
  30. ^ "News Report on 28-02-2012 from Mathrubhumi". Archived from the original on 1 March 2012.
  • Chandran, VP (2018). Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus - 2019 (Malayalam ed.). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode.
  • Menon, A. Sreedhara (2007). A Survey of Kerala History. DC Books. ISBN 9788126415786.
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