Ever since editor-turned-director Ajithkumar’s romantic thriller Eeda hit theatres it has been creating a buzz in Kerala. The film garnered excellent reviews and is unanimously agreed to be an intense and realistic love story set in the backdrop of Kannur’s political violence.
Hailing Eeda, Congress leader PC Vishnunadh put up a Facebook post on Thursday suggesting that CPI (M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and BJP state president Kummannam Rajashekaran should catch the film together.
Vishnunadh goes on to say that the film holds both CPI (M) and Sangh Parivar responsible for the bloodshed and the violent politics induced in Kannur.
"The film talks about murders and the conspiracies, and how that casts a dark cloud on the lives of common people. One can only watch the political violence portrayed in the film with an utter sense of shock," Vishnunadh, who is AICC Secretary, wrote in Malayalam.
Saying that the film is a reminder of the dead and the living dead of Kannur's political violence, Vishnunadh held CPI (M) and BJP to be solely responsible for destabilising Kannur.
"When a film is made on the political violence in Kannur, we must not fail to see how CPI (M) and the Sangh Parivar are responsible for it. In a land where people's lives are entwined with politics, this film as well as history shows us that these two political parties are solely responsible for the unrest," Vishnunadh declares.
The Congress leader also hits out at youth organizations of both CPI (M) and BJP that allegedly did the bidding of political leaders.
“There are youth organizations that condemn the star-mesmerized activities by the fans association. They denounce the huge cut outs of superstars with such vigour, but swing into actions that speak of dark violence when asked to kill and slay by their political leaders. These villages in Kannur that create such political puppets are a curse for Kerala,” says Vishnunadh.
The Congress leader also says that the director has succeeded in telling the story of Anand and Aishwarya who fall for each other but can only express their love when outside Kannur.
“Eeda is a film that reflects the violent political agenda exercised by the leaders of CPI (M) and Sangh Parivar in Kannur. The director who has studied Shakespeare has given the film a narrative that does not bore the audience with just politics or sleazy romance but a realistic approach that provides nothing but the reality. For them, Kannur is a place where they cannot express their love, this is a shame for the district”, says Vishnunadh in his post.
He concluded his post asking the top leaders, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Kummannam Rajashekaran, of CPI (M) and RSS respectively to catch the film together.
According to data accessed by NDTV 172 killings have taken place in the last 17 years in Kannur. RSS and the BJP have together lost 65 party workers, while CPI (M) lost 85 workers. 11 activists each of the Congress and the IUML have also been killed in this period. Statistics showed that from February 2016 to July 2017, 10 RSS or BJP workers, and four CPI (M) workers have been murdered. The data pointed out that the rate of political killings are on the higher side when a LDF government is in power. Kannur recorded nine deaths in 2000 alone and LDF was in power. In 2008 12 persons were killed and LDF was ruling.
However, in a Facebook post on January 9, CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that the number of political killing has come down in 2017. The CM stated that in 2017 there were 5 cases of political murders in 2017 as against 14 in 2016, while there were 1522 cases of political violence registered in the state in 2017 as against 1768 in the previous year.