- Casteism practiced by the CPM.

HaindavaKeralam - Casteism practiced by the Communist Party- Part II



1. Kerala State, Kannur – The Communist fort. 20/06/2008. The real life story of Chitralekha.

The
trouble for Chitralekha, who hails from a Scheduled Caste family at
Payyannur in Kannur District, started when she married Sreeshanth who
belonged to a different caste. Communist local leadership was against
their inter-caste marriage. Under Rozgar Yojana she applied for loan and
purchased an auto rikshaw. Problems started when she decided to earn
the living for her family by plying the auto rickshaw on hire.


The
casteist leaders of the Communist trade union CITU tried to sabotage
her dreams of becoming self-reliant. She faced severe discrimination
from the CITU members. One of them tore off the hood of her auto
rickshaw. Another auto rickshaw tried to run over her. Finally, on 13 th
Dec 2005 Chitralekha’s auto rickshaw was burned down by the members of
the Leftist trade union CITU.


Chitralekha, who sustained
minor injuries, had to be hospitalized. CITU had seized a chance
encounter to beat her and her husband, and the police, who arrived on
the scene, took them to the police station and unleashed even worse
violence. Her complaints have been ignored or treated with hostility by
the mainstream media in Kerala. Activists and concerned persons in and
outside Kerala, however, have rallied to her support. Chitralekha said:
“They called me all sorts of names. One of them shouted that Pulachis
will never ride an auto rickshaw here and it was the Union (CITU)
decision” . When Chitralekha defied the communist ‘order’ her auto was
burned to ashes.


Thanks to a group of kind-hearted people in
the area Chitralekha has bought another auto rickshaw. The Auto rickshaw
was handed over to Chitralekha at a function held at Police Club,
Kannur on June 2008. [1]