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Central team to visit violence-hit Kannur

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The spate of revenge killings in the north Kerala district of Kannur in the last two days has stirred the conscience of various sections of the population in the state. Noted Malayalam poetess and the Kerala State Women's Commission chairperson Sugathakumari has announced her decision to lead a group of writers for a one-day satyagraha at Kannur on December 7. The writers will also undertake a house-to-house campaign after the lifting of prohibitory orders to create public opinion against the violence.

Sugathakumari told newsmen at Thiruvananthapuram today that several prominent writers like T Padmanabhan, Punathil Kunhabullah, Sara Joseph, Thikodiyan, Balachandran Chullikkad, Vijalakshmi and Raghava Warrier would take part in the satyagraha. The members of the Women's Commission have also been invited to take part in the protest, she added.

Jnanpith award winner M T Vasudevan Nair will join the writers in the house-to-house campaign, Sugathakumari revealed. The violence cannot be brought to an end without the political parties showing the will, she said and added that the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist had a greater responsibility in this regard.

The writer said the brutal murder of a person on Wednesday while engaged in the noble act of teaching children has brought shame to the entire people of the state. "I can't believe Keralites, who boast of political tolerance and communal amity, could do such ghastly crimes. The situation in Kannur is worse than that of Bihar," she remarked.

The Kerala Stree Vedi has also appealed to all mothers in the state to take the initiative to bring sanity back to Kannur. Stree Vedi leaders here said that only mothers could feel the pain of losing their children in mindless violence. "Therefore, women are the best-suited to awaken the people against the violence," the Stree Vedi leaders said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister E K Nayanar has convened a conference of all political parties in the state on December 12 to contain the violence in the district. He has already appealed to all the parties to cooperate with the government in restoring peace in Kannur. In a statement issued here before leaving for Kannur today, Nayanar said that the police have taken all steps to prevent the violence from spreading.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's state president C K Padmanabhan said there was no point in discussing peace with the chief minister since he is under the control of politburo member V S Achutanandan. "We would rather discuss the situation with Achutanandan or party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. The police under Mr Nayanar is working as the agent of the ruling party," he said.

Padmanabhan said that the BJP did not think that peace meets like the one being held at Kannur today would serve any purpose unless the CPI-M shows real willingness to eschew the path of violence. He has demanded a judicial inquiry into the recent killing of BJP/RSS workers in the district.

A central BJP parliamentary delegation led by Major General (retd) B C Khanduri would be visiting the state on December 4 and 5. A decision to send the fact-finding team was taken after state BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Law O Rajagopal had a meeting with Home Minister L K Advani and BJP general secretary Venkaiah Naidu.

The chief minister has ordered more battalions of the Malabar Special Police and the Kerala Armed Police into the troubled district. The chief minister gave the order after reviewing the situation in Kannur with director general of police B S Sastry and inspector general of administration and intelligence Jacob Punnose.

Intelligence reports say that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the CPI-M have prepared respective hit lists targeting senior leaders. The deployment of more police personnel in Kannur is likely to strain the law and order machinery in the state since there is need for extra vigilance in the light of the move by some Muslim organisations to organise protests on the anniversary of the Babri Mosque demolition on December 6. A considerable force has already been deployed in Sabarimala to meet the pilgrim season rush.

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