Kannur: When things were going smooth for the major part of the 57th Kerala State School Kalolsavam in Kannur, except the usual flood of appeals and delay in schedule, there came a surprise hartal. Of course, nobody foresaw the murder of BJP worker Santhosh Kumar by suspected CPM activists Wednesday midnight. Kannur has seen brutal political murders and Santhosh's killing is, sadly, the latest addition to it.
The murder was indeed a condemnable act and was sure to evoke anger among BJP cadres. But the saffron party knew they could do more damage to the CPM-led LDF government as Santhosh was murdered when the Asia's biggest youth festival is happening in Kannur, a strong fort of of Left parties. The Kalolsavam is also a prestige affair for the Pinarayi Vijayan government as it is the first state school fete after LDF assumed power in last year's assembly elections. Why would we waste an opportunity to hurt our political opponent, the BJP leadership must have thought and hence, the hartal.
Also read: Why Kannur is not wriggling out of the cobweb of violence
As expected, BJP exempted Kalolsavam (Kalolsavam, not the Kannur town) from the shutdown, but they also said vehicles won't be allowed to ply. The news of hartal broke after midnight and there were many Kalolsavam participants who came to know only Thursday morning that it was a hartal day.
The day began and all the shops were closed. Many Kalolsavam participants, along with their teachers and parents, did not have their breakfast as restaurants were shut. The lucky ones had to suffer for it. "We had to walk over 2 kilometers to find a hotel in the morning to get breakfast. That shop too closed soon after," Ramanath, a parent, said.
Also read: Kudos to this Kannur school for its lovely act on hartal day
An Onmanorama reporter, in need of a tablet, had to walk around the entire town to spot a single medical shop which opened cautiously on the hartal day. "We will close as soon as we hear of any untoward incidents in the city," the medical shop owner said. Thanks to hartal, if any of the thousands of Kalolsavam crowd wanted medicine, they could forget it.
Vehicles carrying students to Kalolsavam were blocked. The participants were wearing make-up as they were stopped on roads by hartal supporters. Yes, Kalolsavam was exempted, but vehicles were not.
By noon, BJP wanted the Kalolsavam to feel the heat of the hartal more as they decided to take the body of Santhosh on the road in front of the main venue. After a tense stand-off with the police for nearly an hour, collector allowed the ambulance carrying his body to use the road, along with four vehicles of BJP leaders. It was an on-the-verge situation with BJP and CPM activists huddled near the Kalolsavam venue, but thankfully, the mourning procession passed the area without issues.
The blame for causing distress to Kalolsavam attendees does not fall on one party alone. If CPM were not in power and were in the position of BJP when it comes to this murder, the Left party would have resorted to the same method of calling a hartal during Kalolsavam. After all, Kannur is a Left stronghold, they would have loved to show their power.
But to whom are these parties trying to show off? To these kids who have come from across the state to showcase their artistic skills on this big platform? And, by not allowing them food and transport? It's high time these political parties take serious plans to shun violence.
Also read: What CM Pinarayi left out in his Kalolsavam speech
For Kalolsavam, the hartal day is an event of the past. The heroes here are the common people of Kannur. There are many stories that Onmanorama came across. A lodge owner, without charging an extra penny, drove a family to their Kalolsavam venue and asked them to call him if they needed to travel anywhere. None of the auto-rickshaw drivers charged anything beyond the meter rate. The teachers and parents of Govt Town HSS, a venue of the youth festival, served lunch with love to around 200 people. There are more such tales, for sure.
Now, tell us, what did you gain by shutting down Kalolsavam town?