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CPM-RSS agree to halt murder campaign

D Jose in Kannur

The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party, who were engaged in a series of revenge killings in Kerala's northern district, have at last decided to give peace a chance. The representatives of the two parties agreed to end the hostilities -- that claimed seven lives and left many maimed in one week -- at an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister E K Nayanar here today.

The BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, who had spurned peace initiatives earlier, were brought to the negotiating table by the Indian Union Muslim League Member of Parliament E Ahmed after much persuasion. The state-level leaders of the two parties were present at the meeting held at the conference room of the district collectorate in the morning. The constituents of the ruling Left Democratic Front and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front also took part in the meeting.

A significant outcome of the belated peace meeting is the decision to revive the monitoring committee headed by the district collector to keep the channels of communication open between the warring parties. The committee would meet once every month and resolve disputes besides reviewing the situation. Any issue beyond the purview of the monitoring committee would be taken up with the chief minister.

Nayanar assured the BJP and the RSS that they can take up any matter with him directly. Another crucial decision of the meeting was to disown the rowdy elements in either party. Both parties pledged that they would not try and protect those involved in criminal activities.

A resolution adopted at the meeting urged the concerned parties to forget the bitterness of the past and take concrete steps to restore peace. The resolution noted that the people in general were fed up with the murders and they would not forgive the political parties if they did not end the violence.

It is learnt that the BJP drove a hard bargain for agreeing to the peace process. They wanted the government to give a free hand to the police machinery and conduct an impartial investigation into past cases. Ahmed, who broke the ice between the parties told rediff.com that getting the two to talk was itself a big success. He revealed that the leaders of both the parties were receptive to his efforts.

Ahmed did not think that the resolution to maintain peace by itself would bring lasting peace to Kannur. There is need for a lot of other confidence-building measures to consolidate the gains made at the peace committee meeting, he added.

He disclosed that the BJP and its feeder organisations had a lot of complaints against the police. It is up to the government to remove these apprehensions through appropriate measures, he opined. He hoped that today's effort would bring an end to the current spate of violence.

Meanwhile, an eerie calm prevailed in Pannur near Thalaserry, the scene of seven revenge killings. People came out in large numbers in the morning when prohibitory orders were lifted by the police administration for three hours.

Police sources said that the situation in Pannur and surrounding areas was under control. No fresh incident of violence was reported from Pannur since Sunday.

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