The way the government and political parties of various hues have rallied behind the aggrieved flat owners of Maradu has dismayed champions of some social protests in the city in the recent past.
While there was a concerted effort to denigrate and pulverise such people’s movements by using the police, branding them as having been hijacked by ‘outsiders’, everyone was quick to jump on the solidarity bandwagon in the case of the luxury flat owners, they allege.
In some cases such as the Vadayampady ‘caste wall’ and the NH-66 (erstwhile NH-17) extension issues, protesters were accused of having ‘outside’ linkages and arrested. “Accusing the protesters of being Maoists and having terror links is a ruse to suppress any movement, which is applied only when ordinary people are at the forefront. For the elite, the rules are different,” rues Hashim Chennampally of the National Highway Protection Council. Dalit activist M.P. Ayyappankutty who was part of the Vadayampady struggle, and Wilson V.P. of the Moolampally Coordination Committee also hold the same view.
C.G. Biju, secretary, LPG Terminal Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithi, Puthuvype, said: “On one side you have a group of affluent people, who broke laws and harmed the environment, being helped by the government while on the other side there are people like us, fishermen, who risked our lives to save our brothers and sisters from the floods which were caused by activities such as theirs, lathicharged and repressed. Their mask of egalitarianism has fallen off.”
Ashkar Khader, advocate, said that the demolition of the buildings, if executed, would have a deterring effect on future constructions and lead to better adherence of the CRZ regulations.
T.J. Vinod, Deputy Mayor and district Congress president, denied the claim that the decision taken by the political parties was biased. “The Congress party has always helped those who have been affected by development projects. In the Moolampally eviction issue, it was the Oommen Chandy ministry that ensured the quick delivery of the Moolampally package. Saying that we have only helped the rich is wrong.”
