[Reader-list] Biggest Police firing ever in Kerala..

[Sudeep K S]

..and nobody is talking about it.

My friend called me yesterday and told me about what can be called the
biggest ever Police firing that happened in Kerala a few days back. It
killed five people, and injured about 40 others. He was surprised that I did
not even know about it.

I have Mathrubhumi at home, my father is active in Kerala's political scene,
I have journalist friends.. Nobody told me about it.

May be nobody wants to talk about a "communal" incident.

I did some googling and found some details. From interesting sources.

"Islamic Terrorism" website says,

"Muslims, Christians clash in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala, 5 killed, 38
injured<http://islamicterrorism.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/muslims-christians-clash-in-thiruvananthapuram-kerala-five-killed-38-injured/>
".

Sounds cheeky. But only when one gets to the fine print, it does tell so
much:

"Securitymen in different uniforms stood guard in front of shops which
remained closed for the second day after the police firing to avert communal
clashes claimed five lives."

OK - so it is not the Islamic terrorists who killed five people. It was the
Police. The article goes on:

"It all began on Saturday when a goon from Cheiryathura, a Christian belt,
tried to extort money from merchants at Bheemappally, a Muslim-dominated
region. After being manhandled by the locals, the goon, Shibu, rushed to
Cheriyathura only to return with a company of his men to retaliate. The gang
from Cheriyathura set ablaze a fishing net at Bheemappally.

Though the police intervened on Saturday night itself, they lowered their
guard assuming normalcy had returned. On Sunday afternoon, a group of youth
from Bheemappally stormed into Cheriyathura, hurling bombs at the people of
the rival side. The police opened fire, killing four people on the spot, as
the mob moved towards a local church. Another person succumbed to injuries
on Monday. Nearly 38 men have been injured in the incident.."

New Kerala <http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-40018.html> site says,
"Four people were killed in this Kerala capital Sunday after clashes between
groups of two communities forced the police to open fire, an official said."

A Police firing that kills five people is not a joke. Not even in the
infamous Muthanga firing could match that. Yet, nobody seems to be
interested in taking up this issue, except for some Muslim groups (at the
risk of being branded communal).

Congress-led UDF is busy celebrating victory, and CPM is busy finding
reasons for their wash-out. Muslim League has decided to speak about it
after three days (See news in today's
Hindu<http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/21/stories/2009052151740300.htm>
).

New Indian Express is probably the only major news paper link that reported
the incident. (Again, with a funny title: Four killed in communal clashes in
Kerala<http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Four+killed+in+communal+clashes+in+Kerala&artid=4nDYn9nESAE=&SectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&MainSectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&SEO=Kerala,+Bimapally&SectionName=X7s7i%7CxOZ5Y=>
).

Then I saw Dr Abdul Salam's piece on grey youth mailing list. Nobody
responded to that mail on the list.

  -sudeep

[also posted at
http://sudeepsdiary.blogspot.com/2009/05/biggest-police-firing-ever-in-kerala.html]


On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 6:49 AM, Dr Abdul Salam <ibnumoosa at gmail.com> wrote:

>   Kerala Police fires at fishing community, four dead<http://nchro.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6847:kerala-police-fires-at-fishing-community-four-dead&catid=12:stateviolations&Itemid=7>
>
>
> <http://nchro.org/index.php?view=article&catid=12:stateviolations&id=6847:kerala-police-fires-at-fishing-community-four-dead&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=7>
>
>
> <http://nchro.org/index.php?view=article&catid=12:stateviolations&id=6847:kerala-police-fires-at-fishing-community-four-dead&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=7>
>
>
> <http://nchro.org/index.php?option=com_mailto&tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL25jaHJvLm9yZy9pbmRleC5waHA/b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9jb250ZW50JnZpZXc9YXJ0aWNsZSZpZD02ODQ3OmtlcmFsYS1wb2xpY2UtZmlyZXMtYXQtZmlzaGluZy1jb21tdW5pdHktZm91ci1kZWFkJmNhdGlkPTEyOnN0YXRldmlvbGF0aW9ucyZJdGVtaWQ9Nw==>
>
>
>
> StateViolations
> <http://nchro.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=12:stateviolations&layout=blog&Itemid=7>
>
> Four persons  from  the Muslim fishing  community were killed when the
> Kerala police opened fire to end a clash between two groups in the
> Cheriyathura-Beemapally coastal area on the outskirts of the
> Thiruvananthapuram  city on Sunday evening ( May 17, 2009). The dead as
> identified as Ahammed Saleem (50), Badusha (35), Syed Alavi (24), Abdul
> Hakkeem (27). 37 persons injured during police fire. Among three of them,
> Shafeeq (21), Sajeer (22),  Ali (34) are having serious head injury.
>
> The clashes erupted after a local mafia boss called Shibu tried to extort
> money from a small restaurant belongs to Muslim fisherman community  in the
> area on Saturday. The extortionists were manhandled by the locals as a
> protest against mafia rule in the impoverished suburban area. The criminal
> gang returned to the area with more people  and started pelting stones at
> shops and nearby houses. They also torched boats and fishing nets and
> damaged shops in the area. Scores were injured as the attacks continued on
> Sunday. The police force failed to arrest the mafia leader, Mr. Shibu, a
> notorious criminal and drug dealer, which resulted in mass resistance of
> fishing community.
>
> The irate crowd  pelted stones at police demanding the arrest of mafia
> leader. Soon, the police, under Commissioner A P George, opened fire to
> disperse a violent mob assembled at the beach. But locals alleged that
> police fired at the crowd without warning. Police should have been able to
> use tear gas or rubber bullet to disperse the crowd. But the police fired at
> throat and chest of the dead and even by chasing  the crowd from behind.
> While two bodies were removed to the medical college hospital, two others
> were kept in a house as community leaders were not handing them over to the
> police, demanding a judicial probe. Police even denied access to medical
> facilities to the injured. Victims says that police was unnecessarily trying
> to make  the clashes as communal, while they were responding  against mafia
> - police nexus.
>
> Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who was in New Delhi, appealed to the
> people to remain calm.  “Adequate compensation would be given to those who
> have suffered damages and (the goevrnment) will do the needful for those who
> lost their lives,” Achuthanandan said. N. Ramachandran Nair, the senior
> leader of Communist Party of India demanded strict action against police.
>
> Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who is also in New Delhi, said
> the violence had nothing to do with the Lok Sabha election results announced
> Saturday, adding he would return here at the earliest.
>
> Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy of the Congress Sunday night told
> reporters here that there was a lapse on the part of the police and a small
> clash had flared up into a tragedy.
> “A judicial inquiry has to be announced into the incident,” said Chandy. A
> company of the Central Reserve Police Force has has been deployed in the
> area and a group of the Rapid Action Force was on its way to the place,
> officials said. Muslim organizations demanded massive shut down of
> Thiruvananthapuram city to protest against irresponsible police firing.
>
>