Kozhikhode: CPM, though posed an authoritarian attitude at the initial phase towards ‘Save Paddy’ agitators of Keezhattoor, a party citadel, had surrendered before its cadres, ending their 20-day fast.
What put the party down was their firm resolve not to denounce the party even if it fails to understand them.
The protesters feel that apart from a small coterie, majority leaders are in favour of retaining paddy and those opposed were misled by some vested interests.
Though the official faction tried its best to snuff the agitation by terrorising them against questioning the decision and Kannur district secretary, P. Jayarajan, himself had declared at a meeting held at Keezhattoor that party was for the highway through the fields.
But the agitators were adamant. At no point, they turned against the party. When the LDF constituents including CPI and even the BJP started putting weight behind them, CPM state leadership smelt a rat.
Moreover, a host of prominent leaders in Kannur warned against suppressing the agitation.
The realisation resulted in the meeting headed by PWD minister G. Sudhakaran which culminated into solutions.
At a meeting held at Keezhattoor on Friday, the leaders of the action council who participated in the meeting in Thiruvananthapuram explained the decisions and solutions.
On the agitation Suresh Keezhattoor, the person who led the 13-day hunger strike at the samara pandal said the agitation was called off temporarily on the minister's assurance that the road will not be allowed to move through the paddy land.
“Moreover, an expert committee constituted by National Highway Authority engineers and environmental activists will find out another alignment without damaging the ecosystem and saving the maximum number of houses from the bypass diversion,” he told DC. There will not be any new notification on bypass expansion until a final solution.
The decision of crowd gathered at the village which demanded to retain the venue of agitation indicates the grit of the rural community to resume the agitation at any moment.
