The Politics of Murder, Violence and Terror: The Red Fascists and their record of violence in Kannur

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Kerala has earned for itself an unenviable reputations. Lazy "left Intellectuals" have labored to fabricate an image of Kerala as a progressve, socially inclusive and vibrant state. In reality the picture is vastly different. Recent events such as the fire bombing of the pregnant elephant and the inability of the Pinrayi regime to arrest the ciminals reponsible has dented the caefully cultivated image and more recently, the Gold Smuggling case in which Pinrayi's close aides are said to be involved as further dented the already sagging image. The astonishing level of political violence is the elephant i the room which the ideologically charged lazy left intelletuals who write for Frontline and EPW are reluctant to even admit. Fortunately one of them has come out with a book n this very theme. Redrocity or Left Atrocity is hardly a new phenomenon and those who are familiar with the record of Lenin, Stalin, their ne tim ally Hitler, Mao or Pol Pot will admit that violence is the only language that the Left knows and deploys for political advantage. India has experienced Redrocity in West Bengal n the Naxalite Belt and Kannur in Kerala has become a byword, a metaphor for violence as grand political spectacle.

N P Ullekh, the author, is the son of P Gopalan, a Marxist leader from the very heartland of political killing, th badlands of Kannur. Though he writes with deep sympathy for the marxists, he is honest enough to document in unrelenting detail the gyre of violence in Kannur. Even as I write this, the morning newspaper carried yet another news report relating to yet another victim of the Marxists' quest for total political domination over Kannur. What is truly disturbing is the nexus between the marxists and Muslim gangs operating under various Jihadi banners. Marxists to maintain their "secular" image outsource murder to muslims groups who can be tapped for undertaking such crimes partly motivated by ideological considerations and partly for money. Attacks on RSS workers or BJP workers by DYFI or SFI thugs is a routine affair in Kannur and what is particularly interesting is that such events have been taking palce since 1969. The brutal murder of Shri Vadikkal Ramakrishnan on April 28, 1969 inaugurated a cycle of violence and the state is yet to be free of its aftermath.

The head of the marxist regime currently in place in Kerala, Pinrayi Vijayan was one of the accused in the murder and as in the case of the murder of Sisiter Abhaya, the trial ended up acquitting all the nine accused inculding Vijayan on the ground of iadequate evidence. Interestingly Stephy and her partner in crime were also given the benefit of doubt on the same grounds in two earlier trials. As attempt at reopening this case has not succeeded and all papers relating to the murder in 1969 have conveniently disappeared. Ullekh uses a nice euphemism and calls Vijayan's brand of politics "muscular" when the more appropriate term would undoubtdly be Fascist.

Like Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao the commisars of Kannur too beleive that Marx' theory of "class struggle" demands an unswerving adherence to murder and mayhem. Kodeyari Balakrishan another of the muscular faces of Red Fascism in Kannur had more than once spoken of the ease with which political opponents were eliminated  in Kerala. And all these self confessed crimes have gone unpunished. The author has cited several cases in which marxists leaders justified the killing of political workers. Leaders like Sashi quoted by the author seem to have gangs of killes whom they despatched to kill or threaten political opponents. One reason for the crude resort to violence is the fact that marxists seem to be on the whole undereducated and eductional institutions in Kerala are only boot camps for marxist cadres. As a teacher in a central university, I can say that youth are easily incited and the lack of a critical sense to disaggregate fact from propaganda is a part of the problem and marxists find it convenient to have an army of slogan shouting zombies to further their political ends.

The author has advanced an interesting theory to account for the unrelenting violence in Kannur.  The area with a large Chekavar preesence has just the right social mileu for caste tension, a glimpse of which can be caught in the bardic compositions of Northrn Kerala. The Chekavars were armed muscl men of the Nairs who lorded over the area prior to the raids of Tipu Sultan in the eighteenth century, when large scae dispossession of landed property took place. The kudippakka (vendetta) songs extolling cultivated vengence over several generations keep the memories of old conflicts fresh in the collective memory and plitical activists in the form of "peope's theatre" are at hand to stir up a heady brew of class conflict and vengeful landlords from the thin wisps of folk legends. And post colonial "historians" are now at hand to give academic legitimacy to such an idelogically mariated version of the past. Marxist historians as the author points out were encouraged by the congress as a tacit bagain for political support. Such opportunism is of course secular politics.

The author while accpeting the fact that the Maxist faction and its leaders like Vijayan, Raghavan and Govindan Master are votaries of violence in defence of the Kannur fiefdom, argues that it was the Cngress that began the cycle of violence and if that is so there is a lesson to be learnt here. Violence is a sure sign that the cadre is unsure of its moorings and it is therefore not surprising that the congress is losing ground as the recent local elections showed. The same fate awits the Red Fascists too. The marxist faction is particularly prone to gratuitous violence and the auhor has more than proved this point.

Having read this book, I can say that it is an honest attempt at explaining the Redrocity called Kannur. Te slaying of Jayakrishnann Master, a school teacher, in front of a class room of young students shows how despicable the politics of the marxists has become.

Tatya Tope's Operation Red Lotus: History as Memory

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Tatya Tope's Operation Red Lotus

Prayag Tope

New Delhi Rupa,2010

History is a curious discipline. As Alice in Wonderland remarked, Memory works only backwards. If only Historians have the luxury of retrofitting events that happened into a predetermined pattern, then all history will become ever so predictable. And this teleology is the most striking weakness of the so called Marxist view of History which imposes a predetermined pattern upon the past. And the book under review, though a welcome departure from the innane certainities of contemporary Historiography, attempts to rehabilitate the reputation and achievements of the great leader, Tatya Tope, during the momentous 1857 Rebellion by making his participation central to the entire History of 1857. This interpretation i of course highly exaggerated but by highlighting the contribution of Tatya Tope a long needed corrective has been introduced.

Parag Tope, obviously a descendent of the leader of 1857 has argued that Tatya Tope organised the entire Rebellion and the circulation of lotus stems and chappatis is proof of his organizational skill. The Lotus stems, he argues was circulated to Sepoy battalions all over North India in order to gauge the probable strenght of the East India Company and its discontented sepoys. And the chappatis were circulated to alert villagers about the need for preparing and stocking provisions for the rebel troops. This line of interpretation may ber plausible, but does not necessarily support the argument that recruitment, logistics and strategy were in the hands of Tatya Tope. Nana Saheb did possess immense organizational ability and a vision of Statecraft extending beyond the limits of the Mahratta Confederation. The manner in which the author has discussed the Kanpur Massacre and the Bibi Ghar incident in commendable. There is no doubt that the Sepoys unlike the English soldiers did not  believe in targetting women and children and the tragic episode was largely the result of the indiscriminate killings of civilians undertaken by General Havelock and General Neill.

Prayag Tope has brought into the discussion important aspects of the economy of India as it slid into abyss of British rule. He rightlly emphasises the "racial" and "ethnic" underpinnings of British ideology of domination which ultimately led to the treatment of Indians as sub humans and the Sepoys of North India, as did the Sepoys of Vellore fifty years earlier realised. Much has been written about Awadh and the loot of the rich province right from the time of Warren Hastings. Here the emphasis is on the deliberate and sustained attack on the traditional economy of India: Cotton and Iron. He has pointed out that the loot from India was behind the Industrial Revolution and in this Parag Tope is absolutely right. It is well known now that after the acquisition of the Diwani Rights over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, the income of the Company by way of taxation was nearly 65 million pounds,a  sizeable percentage of the National Income of England/Britain.

The book is based on the premise that History has to fall into a pattern in order for it to be intelligible. Unfortunately the evidence of Tatya Tope presiding over an elaborate Rebel Administration which the Mughal Procalmation giving his regime a semblence of legitimacy, is thin. The letters written in Urdu on which this argument is based raises the question: whu Urdu and not Mahrathi in Modi script as was the practice during the heyday of Mahratta Supremacy in the eighteenth century, about which we are learning so much due to the stalwart effotrs of Dr. Uday Kulkarni. 

Parag Tope has rightly drawn attention to the horrendous price paid by India. The crimes of Havelock and Neill in killing people all along the infamous march from Allahabad or Prayag to Lucknow contributed to India being defeated and the Rebels lost access to food and shelter. The deliberate policy of burning village and hanging people contributed to a loss of morale and it seems that India was maimed as a consequence. And one historical fact needs to be highlighted. General Neill brought with him the Madras Fusiliers and much of the fighting was done by Tamil and Telugu speaking soldiers. This fact need not be hidded as History is an engasgment with Truth.

I enjoyed reading the book. However as History it leaves certain questions behind.

Venkatesa Suprabhatam: The Song that awakens the Lord

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Venkatesa Supbrabhatan: The Story of India's Most Popular Prayer

Benkatash Parthasarathy

New Delhi: Westland Publications, 2020

There is hardly anyone in South India who hasd not heard the lilting sould stirring Venkteasa Subprabhatam rendered and sung in the most melodious voice by M S Subhalakshmi. Composed in the fifteenth century byPrativadi Bhayankara Anna this song has now become the ubiquitous hymn for Vishnu in his upa avatara as Venkatesvara, the Lord of the Tirumula Hills. This book is an interesting account of the song and its cultural and religious context. The author has done a good job in tracing the theological and philosophical background of Vaishnavism in the post Ramanuja epoch (1017-1137). My Grandmother could recite the entire Suprabhatam and her day started with a prayer to Venktesvara of Timumala Tirupathi. And this book is a good introduction to those who have heard the song and wondered what it signified.

Sri Vaihnava religion is predicated upon the belief that Vishnu the Supreme and to be worthy of prapthi or Salvation the Grace of the Lord is important and the Grace can be acquired through prayer and meditation as well as by leading a worthy and sinless life. But the grace or benediction is entirely left to Vishnu/Perumal/ Mayon. He can grant it at his pleasure and hence the two famous Schools which sees Garce asa product of our effort and the other which recognizes only the will and pleasure of the Lord of Vaikunta. From a very early period, Tirumal Hills were associated with  the worship of Mayon or Vishnu and is one of the 108 divya desham of the Sri Vaihnava tradition. And in Tondaimandalam of the medeival Tamil region, Tirumala Hills remained as important in sanctity as Kanchipuram and Sriperunbadur, the birth palce of Ramanuja. The hymns of the Alzhwars are rich in poetic expressions of immense passion towards the Deity and the language in which this devation was expressed freely drew from the corpus of early bardic composition, especially from the akam genre of poems. Andal, the poet of Srivilliputtur about whom the great king of Vijayanagara wrote in his Amuktamaldaya is the mast note votary of of Passion though poetic imagery and metaphor. The composer of the Suprabhatam drew from this rich repetoire of philosophical and religious texts.

The interesting feature of the rituals performed in the temple is that it maintained the circardian rhythm of a human. The Lord wakes up in the morning to the melody of the Suprabhatam and all the rituals mimic the activities of a human. Thus the importance of Prasada or cooked food offered to the God as talligai. From the reign of Saluva Narashima, the sale of prasada became an important feaure of the activities of the temple. Throughout the Vijayanagara period, Temple ritual was carried out on the basis of the Vaikhanasa tradition, unlike the panchratra tradition in the other graet Sri Vaishnava shrine, Srirangam Devalaya of Ranganatha.

This book tries to explain in a simple manner the complex set of ideas and concepts that are buit into this famous poem an d even the reference to antaryami is beautifully explained.  I enjoyed reading this book. Though it was rather thin on the History, both intellectual and political, of the Sri vaishnava shrine, this book must be read by all those who beleive that the Grace of Venkatesva is necessary for their earthy and spiritual well being.

Zosa Szajkowski and the Theft of History: Identity, Historiography and the Holocaust

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

The tragic history of Zoza Szajkowski (1911-1978) is many ways the story of a Historian, Chronicler or even a Memory Keeper who learnt or drew the wrong lessons from his own life experiences. The subject of a full lenght monographic study by Lisa Leff, Szajkowski, a Jew displaced from Europe who migrated to Paris as a young boy with his parents and siblings only to see all his close relatives die in the German concentration camps. The Holocaust took a terrible toll both in lives and in the capacity of the human mind to remember its horrors. And Zoza decided, for good or for evil, that the cultural treasures of Judaica in Europe are not safe and USA is the land that could protect Jewish Histrical artifacts particularly documents, manuscripts, organized archival material and memorobilia.  And to that end he embarked on a proffession of crime, stealing historical material from Libraries, Archives and Institutions and selling them to some of the most prestigous Universities such as Harvard, Columbia, Brandeis and several Jewish Institutions in Israel and New York.

The Holocaust offers a contranst between two distinct approaches to History. Raul Hilberg in his monumental, Destruction of the European Jews following the trend of Franz Nuemann appraoched the study of the systematic extermination of Jews and several other peoples and groups from the perpetrators set of institutions and in the course of 3 huge volumes succeeded in bringing the unspeakable into the light of History. The documents when placed in the right set of historical frameworks and stuctures speak eloquently. Indian histrorians, being ideologues rather than trained historins, seldom follow such an example and so we have drivel marinated in post colonial garbage masquerading as serious history. They must learn   a lesson from Raul Hilberg. Another approach is the collection of Testimonies of Eye Witnesses particularly of those who survived the extermination camps. Testimonies offered a set of sources that enabled the historian to prove the "Collective Guilt" imposed on the Germans after World War I. Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners is a good example of the second approach. Here it is better to be a hedgehog rather than a fox. The War against the Jewish Population of Europe resulted in an almost total destruction of the collective and communal life lived by the Jews in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and France. It is in the middle of this destructive war that Zosa Szajkowski decided that he could rescue Jewish Cultural Property and smuggle it to safety in the US.play his chosen role as the Saviour of Jewish Heritage. The Germans had looted Synaggues, Homes Libraries and Museums of books, manuscripts, records and documents. Zosa who arrived in Paris as a GI and with the ability to speak read write French Yiddish and German was tasked with the job of dealing with documents and cultural treasures left behind by the fleeing German Army. And seeing the horrors of the Holocaust he decided to appropriate the documents books and artifacts and sent them to US. Obviously the US Army and the Occupational Forces and their authorities winked, if not colluded with this dubious export of what Zosa thought were ownerless art and other objects of high cutural value.

After his return to USA he continued to make periodical visits to France and embarked on a serious career as an "archive thief". In 1961 he was caught red handed in Strausbourg but was allowed to escape. And in 1978 he was once again caught this time in New York Public Library and was handed over to the plice. Two days later he died by suicide taking all his secrets with him to the grave.

The life of Zosa obviously raises certain vital questions. Were the Institutions which bought the stolen documents complicit in the crime? Did he steal the documents as an act of defiance against the crimes committed against the Jews and wanted the memory of the Chosen People to be preserved? Does extreme identification with a religious or ethnic group innures the Historian to cerain ethical question about the purpose of writing History? Did Zosa in his own warped fashion anticipate the recrudesence of antisemitism in Europe and North America making exiles f the Jews nce again. Bth in USA and Europe there are definite signs of the revival of anti semeticism. The answers to these questions will never be known. The author has raised some of these questions in her fascinating study.

The post War confusion offered Zosa a number of opportunities to ransack and gather Jewish Cultural Material from Paris and other parts of France. To Zosa, a world that watched as he rationalized, silently as the European Jews were led to their death in German gas chambers will not hesitate to turn a blind eye should a similar ocassion arise and so the logic of Holocaust justified the unconventional route that he took. Be that as it may the rules governing the restitution of cultural property did not distinguish between Jewsa and other nationalities and there was every possiblity of the material belonging to dead Jews being returned back to the country of origin and this of course negated the whole tragedy of the Holocaust. While Raul Hilberg, the meticulous chronicler of the Sholah, was keen to answer the questin,how did Germany a modern western state transform itself into a murder organization, Zosa was not animated by large meta historical questions. His purpose was more immediate salvage as much as he could of the heritage still left and take it to USA which he felt was a safe zone. In a simialr manner, Leon Poliakov was intrumental in collectingGestapo records which came in useful as evidence in war crime trials which opened after the defeat of Germany.

This book makes a ood read. But there is the poignant tale of a dedicated scholars, historian, memory keeper going bad, horribly bad. Had USA treated him better coud the tale have been different. Who knows?