Countering a series of allegations made by a suspected group of Maoists against the Chakkittappara grama panchayat authorities and some of the top party leaders, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), with the support of trade unions and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) allies, is busy with hosting a number of regional political campaigns in the rural areas of Kozhikode district to clarify its stance.
The party came up with public campaigns in the wake of the recent visits of suspected Maoists in Chakkittappara with leaflets and notices which claimed that the panchayat authorities and some of the top LDF leaders were having secret plans to facilitate a multi-crore mining project in the Perambra estate land. The notices had also named a few leaders and warned that they would be liable to face consequences.
As the police and anti-Naxal squads failed to find out any trace of ‘Maoists’, there was disgruntlement among local politicians. They were also in a dilemma on how to convince local people about their stance and put an end to the frequent visits of ‘Maoists’ in the village.
Protests held
Explanatory meetings with political workers’ participation were the first step covering all the villages closer to the forest areas in Chakkittappara. Such meetings have already covered over 200 locations. There were also torch-bearing protests claiming that the suspected Maoist elements were trying to mislead people with fake information and allegations.
Local meetings are still under way with the cooperation of LDF-led trade unions and party workers. The cooperation of a large number of workers in Perambra estate has also been ensured in campaigns. Trade union leaders in Perambra estate say they have the support of all 287 labourers to defeat the ‘Maoist’ propaganda.
Some of the local CPI(M) leaders said the threats were mainly against senior leaders like T.P. Ramakrishnan, Elamaram Karim and panchayat president K. Sunil. They said strong legal action had already been sought from the police against the ‘Maoist’ elements who visited the Chakkittappara area four times and created a sense of insecurity among people. They also made it clear that the circulation of false information against the leaders could not be tolerated at any cost.
CPI(M) leaders also pointed out that the plantation sector in the district managed to survive the difficult times mainly because of the patronage of the LDF government. They ruled out the allegation that there was a move to facilitate mining of minerals in the estate property.
