User:Tamiltruefact/sandbox

Gopalakrishna Naidu,a landlord from Irinjiur near to Keezhvenmani(Kilvenmeni) Nagapattinam (once part of Thanjavur) and he was the president of the Tanjore Congress Party Area Committee formed a Paddy Producers Association with Narayanasamy Naidu, a former MLA. Gopalakrishna naidu was the architect of Keezhvenmani Massacre and killed 44 farmers.

Massacare Accused

The notorious landlords who have built their wealth on the free service of pannai adimaigal (farm slaves) from the Dalit community, A marginalised and voiceless community learnt about its rights from Communist movement that was gaining ground there,eccentric and dictatorial ways for long began straining the leash, the landlords grew uneasy. Wages, something the landed gentry considered benevolence, became a buzz word and the downtrodden began demanding it as a right.The response was swift and brutal. Bullets of country-made guns, assault and torture were employed in good measure to the silence the voice of dissent.They were attached to a Left union, the landlords demanded us to leave that association and join their association.Together(Naidu's) they toured villages and asked farm workers to join them. The association had its own flag which was hoisted in many villages After some arm-twisting, a few labourers switched camp, but a majority opposed. This upsets Gopalakrishna Naidu, zonal president of The Paddy Producers Association. Naidu decided to take revenge.on the night of December 25, 1968 when about 200 henchmen of Gopalakrishna Naidu barged into their village.While the landlords fired bullets, the labourers could only throw stones in return.By Hearing the gunshots,women and childrens ran helter-skelter,the goons surrounded the hut and set it on fire and executed the massacre. 16 women, 23 children, and five men were charred to death inside a hut.

Acquittal

After the inferno came legal tussle. After a protracted court battle, the Madras High Court acquitted the landlord in 1975, quashing the Nagapattinam district court judgment awarding him 10 years of imprisonment in 1970.

Death

The acquittal upset the Dalits and a radical group decided to avenge the massacre. Gopalakrishna Naidu was murdered in 1980.

__NEWSECTIONLINK__