Keezhattur agitation to intensify as 'Vayalkilikal' plans long march

The protest against the national highway expansion project at Keezhattur in Kannur district is likely to intensity as the affected farmers, who are organised under the banner of a grouping known as Vayalkilikal (paddy birds), is planning a long march to Thiruvananthapuram on the lines of the recent farmers' rally in Maharashtra.

Keezhattur, a village near Kannur’s Taliparamba, shot into the limelight as the local CPM workers started protest against a proposed bypass to be built over paddy fields in 2016.

With changing political power equations, the protest for land and resources was soon tagged one of anti-development rhetoric. The UDF, which got a golden opportunity against the CPM in Kannur, too has decided to give its support to the protest. The BJP has also joined the bandwagon. On March 25, several activists arrived in Keezhattur to lend support to the cause.

Now, with the protesters planning to take the agitation to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is watching which way the wind will blow.

If the government continues to take a stand against the protest, the farmers' collective will have to intensify protests. For the proposed march, special committees that will be specially set up will organise the kisan rally in each district. The protesters are of the opinion that the government has ample time to settle the issue as the protests are being planned for May.

The protesters have sought the support of all parties as they do not want any political formation to hijack their movement. Though the protesters identify themselves on the left of the ideological spectrum, they are unsure if they could continue with the CPM now.

Keeping their left-leaning policies live, they have come into terms with the fact that they are pitched against their own parent party in its stronghold.

Spearheading a protest that should have been led by Left parties, they are anchoring their battle on strong conviction about their cause, while continuing to project their Leftist leanings. This reflects in the genesis of the movement -- the collective was formed once the protesters realised they were fighting a lonely battle.

The fields bear the marks of protests: Manorama

Initially, Vayalkilikal got the support of the youth and most of the public. But when the party changed its stance, the protesters became 'anti-CPM', they said.

The CPM strategy

The ruling CPM took on the protesters by deploying a two-pronged strategy. It carried out door-to-door awareness drives and relied on posters and notices to explain its stance.

The flags of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the CPM farmers' wing, flutter on one side of the paddy field, where measurements had been marked for constructing the bypass. Under each flag is a board which proclaims that the owner of the land is willing to give up his land for development.

Apart from this, there are notices all over the place between Taliparamba and Keezhattur and several other areas exhorting people to come together for the development of the region. As if this wasn't enough, the CPM has allegedly adopted the path of inducements and threats to arm-twist local residents.

Supporters have been threatened with suspension of basic government support like pensions and incentives. Several more have been warned they will lose their jobs in the government cooperatives. They topped it up with job promises to the youth in party-controlled establishments too.

The veiled and open threats worked -- several of the supporters withdrew. Several more were added to the list of dissenters when they were offered Rs 4 lakh per cent for the land being acquired.

"Everybody won't fall in their trap. We will go ahead with others," said Vayalkili worker Kamalakshi.

200 acres of paddy fields will be lost irreversibly if the project succeeds: Manorama

In September 2016, a wreath and a threat letter were placed in front of the house of CPM workers P Shankaran Nambiar and wife T C Janaki. The letter bore a threat against supporting the bypass through Keezhattur. One letter was kept along with the wreath and the other was pasted on the wall.The local leadership of the CPM landed at the spot and the area secretary P Mukundan then said that the party will investigate the incident which they blamed on 'anti-socials'.

Why is Keezhattur boiling?

The bypass was planned through Keezhattur away from the busy Taliparamba city as part of the widening of the national highway. Paddy fields were chosen to resolve the insurmountable task of land acquisition.

The proposed bypass was a plan B as the initial blueprint of the bypass would have affected 120 houses and other buildings and several acres of paddy fields.

The protests were started by farmers' collective with the support of the CPM saying that leveling of the fields would affect the ecosystem of the area and lead to severe drought.

Some CPM workers who were active during the initial stage of the protest gradually backed out. The party also came down strongly on several of its cadre who stood with the Vayalkili movement.

The idea of an elevated bypass was put forward as an alternative option. The party too didn’t have any objection to the elevated highway on a stretch that passes through the paddy fields.

If the central government agrees to an overbridge, the party would cooperate, said CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

Protesters at the site: Manorama

But the Keezhattur issue was not taken up for discussion when chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan met union minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi.

Another option that was considered was a flyover above the existing road. In Taliparamba city, the road has an average width of 30 metres at most places.

A study by the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath had found that building a 2.1 km overbridge from Ezham Mile to Lourde Hospital won't affect any building in the city.

CPM march & the Vayalkili counter-march

On April 3, Vayalkili leaders Suresh Keezhattur and Nambradath Janaki had shared the dais with BJP leaders during the opening ceremony of the march organised by the BJP from Keezhattur to Kannur, triggering a controversy.

The leaders were quick to reject any political colours to the protest, though they reiterated that support from all fronts was welcome.

Informed sources said that once the CPM's march aimed at explaining the party's stand comes to an end, the Keezhattur Agitation Solidarity Committee is likely to hold a public meeting or a district-level rally to explain its position.

A pond marked for the proposed bypass: Manorama

The CPM is currently conducting a march themed 'Samadhanam Vikasanam' (peace and development) that will conclude at Thaliparamba on April 9.

Among others, the Vayalkilikal will also project that fact popular support for a democratic protest was nothing new, showing the example of BJP leaders Kummanam Rajasekharan and Sohba Surendran and CPM leaders M A Baby and T N Seema having shared the dais during a protest against levelling of paddy fields in Aranmula.