Congress, CPM brawl over Idukki violence

Kottayam: The Congress party has been at the receiving end of political murders in Idukki district ever since Youth Congress leader Anchery Baby was killed by CPM activists on November 13, 1982, according to a party leader. “If we had retaliated then, the other murders—that of  Congress activists Mullanchira Mathai and Vettukad Nanappan—would not have happened,”  said  Mr Senapathy Venu,  Idukki DCC general secretary.  However, the CPM men say that the political murders began when the police and the Congress leadership tried to suppress them and capture the trade union leadership.

“The Congress party could not  recover from the murder of Anchery Baby who was a staunch trade union activist,”  said Mr Venu. “The Rajakkad CPM area committee had played a crucial role in the murders in the 1980s.  The 164 confession by  P.N. Mohandas  in the Anchery Baby’s murder case reveals it, ” Mr Venu added. Mr K.K. Jayachandran, CPM Idukki district committee secretary, denied that the party had taken any political decision on the murders.

“There was no decision by the party leadership to eliminate some leaders.  The party cadres reacted when they faced oppression from the police and the Congress leadership. There were organised attempts by  the Congress party to frame our cadres in the cases,” he said.   He alleged that  CPM  activists T.A. Nazeer, Ayyappadas and Anish Rajan were killed by the Congress men in 1989, 2004 and 2012 respectively.