KASARAGOD: An unofficial social boycott by the CPM has made life miserable for a family at Palayai in Nileshwaram. On Saturday, a gang of CPM workers prevented the family from harvesting coconut in their land and manhandled the coconut plucker.
M K Radha, 70-year-old grand-daughter of Kayyur uprising leader Elaichi Kannan, and her family has been facing a ban from the communist party after they refused to surrender their land for constructing an approach road in the so-called ‘party village’.The party men also abused and threatened Radha, her daughter M K Beena, and grand child Ananya for defying the party diktat. A video footage of this, captured by Ananya, has gone viral. In the video, a CPM local reader is heard shouting “Pinarayi is still ruling the state, remember”. The video also shows the assault on the worker.
Beena said CPM had imposed the social boycott on her family around eight years ago. “Local labourers are not ready to work on our land due to the ban. Hence, we hired a coconut plucker from Padannakkad to harvest coconut. But the party workers abused us and assaulted him,” she said.
The family alleged that several CPM workers entered their property and pulled down many coconut and arecanut trees to construct an approach road to the proposed shutter-cum-bridge in 2017. The land was encroached upon when an approach road exists to connect the bridge, Beena said.
Meanwhile, the CPM local leadership dismissed the charges. “The argument erupted when local labourers questioned a worker from outside coming to work there. Residents intervened when the family ill-treated the labourers,” said CPM local secretary P Manoharan.
M K Radha, 70-year-old grand-daughter of Kayyur uprising leader Elaichi Kannan, and her family has been facing a ban from the communist party after they refused to surrender their land for constructing an approach road in the so-called ‘party village’.The party men also abused and threatened Radha, her daughter M K Beena, and grand child Ananya for defying the party diktat. A video footage of this, captured by Ananya, has gone viral. In the video, a CPM local reader is heard shouting “Pinarayi is still ruling the state, remember”. The video also shows the assault on the worker.
Beena said CPM had imposed the social boycott on her family around eight years ago. “Local labourers are not ready to work on our land due to the ban. Hence, we hired a coconut plucker from Padannakkad to harvest coconut. But the party workers abused us and assaulted him,” she said.
The family alleged that several CPM workers entered their property and pulled down many coconut and arecanut trees to construct an approach road to the proposed shutter-cum-bridge in 2017. The land was encroached upon when an approach road exists to connect the bridge, Beena said.
Meanwhile, the CPM local leadership dismissed the charges. “The argument erupted when local labourers questioned a worker from outside coming to work there. Residents intervened when the family ill-treated the labourers,” said CPM local secretary P Manoharan.
