It has been a little over three months into the New Year and Kerala has witnessed two cases involving deaths of two students – Jishnu Prannoy and Anandu. The former was found dead in his hostel room in January, allegedly beaten up by college authorities. The latter was murdered in cold blood on Wednesday, allegedly by some of his schoolmates, RSS members.
SP Udayakumaran, anti-nuclear energy activist, who was one of the main forces behind the Kudankulam agitation has also registered his protest to the incidents.
In a Facebook post, Udayakumaran, the Coordinator for People's Movement against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), said that he would boycott a program he was supposed to attend in Tiruvalla on Saturday with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The program, where Irom Sharmila will also be present, is meant to celebrate the magazine Dynamic Action’s 50th anniversary and the 85th birth anniversary of MJ Joseph, its deceased founding editor.
Talking about Jishnu’s case, Udayakumaran said:
“Jishnu's family claims he was beaten up in vice-principal's room, and the SIT has found blood stains in that room. The postmortem report also says injuries were found on the boy's body that had been inflicted before his death.
Is this any way to run an educational institution? Can we accept this kind of Fascist tendencies, attitude and behavior among the administrators of educational institutions in the country? Schools and colleges are NOT and should not be police stations or prison cells.”
Also pointing to the police assault and arrest of Mahija, Jishnu’s mother, on Thursday, Udayakumaran wrote: “Is this any way to treat a mother who has lost her precious son in such a cruel manner?”
He also referred to Anandu’s death, and said:
“In the meantime a plus-two student, Anandu has been hacked to death near Cherthala, Alappuzha for not attending the RSS programs as he used to do before.
When young children are getting killed like this in the already criminalized political culture of Kerala, I cannot be sitting next to the CM with clear conscience and mental peace. So I have deiced to boycott the Tiruvalla event this evening.”
Apologising to the organisers of the event, Udayakumaran pointed out the incidents of murders and revenge killings in Kerala were shameful for the Kerala government. He also urged the CM to put an end to these incidents, especially the murder of students.
Read his full post here: