Why Shekhar Kapur called Dalit auto driver Chithralekha 'no less than Bandit Queen'

Kannur: E Chithralekha, a Dalit autorickshaw driver who fought a long and lonely battle against alleged caste discrimination and persecution by CPM supporters in their Kannur stronghold for two decades, died on Saturday, October 5. She was 47. Chithralekha, a native of Edat in Payyannur, was battling pancreatic cancer and jaundice, said her family.

Director Shekhar Kapur once shared her story on Instagram and wrote: "It’s a story of courage no less than that of Bandit Queen". In 2018, British screenwriter Fraser Scott began developing an adaptation of her story for the big screen. "She lived her life fighting for her basic human right to be treated with equality, a right she was denied with so much force that she was hospitalised, fled her home from a man who was sent to kill her, and in the end protested outside the government (Kannur Collectorate) for 122 days -- that was her strength. She never gave up, until this, her final breath," Scott told Onmanorama, on knowing about her death.

Chithralekha's autorickshaws were set on fire twice in 2005 and 2023, she and her husband, Shreeshkant M (48) were assaulted several times and denied the right to work when the Congress-led UDF government sanctioned a five-cent plot to her, the CPM staged a massive protest and got the financial assistance stayed after the LDF came to power in 2016. In June this year, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gave her a replacement autorickshaw, she and her husband were not allowed to ply in Kannur City. Her banner during a protest in front of the Secretariat once read: 'Against the casteist attacks of CPM'.

MCC denied proper treatment
Chithralekha was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months ago. But even after that, she was humiliated and discriminated against when she sought treatment in the government-run Malabar Cancer Centre at Kodiyeri in Thalassery, alleged husband Shreeshkant and their daughter Megha E (26). "She told this on camera to two TV channels five days ago," Shreeshkant told Onmanorama on Saturday.

The family said she was referred to the Malabar Cancer Centre by the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram because it was closer to home. "But when we went there, the staff recognised her as Chithralekha. After that, she was always made to wait for long hours even when her token number was called. They ignored her severe pain. We weren’t given proper advice either. Later, they told us they had closed her file," said Megha.

The oncologist at MIMS in Kannur informed her that the cancer had spread to her liver and recommended three rounds of chemotherapy. "If the cancer responded, they said she could then undergo radiation therapy," said her daughter.

But later, she developed jaundice and was admitted to KLIC Multi Speciality Hospital in Kambil, Kannur. "When she started slipping, we shifted her to Baby Memorial Hospital in Chala. She died around 3 am," said Shreeshkant.

Stood up against casteism & gender bias
Chithralekha was a nurse in a private hospital when she met auto driver Shreeshkant in Varkala more than two decades ago. They fell in love and got married in 2003. And that's when their unending troubles started. Chithralekha belonged to a Dalit community and Shreeshkant belonged to the Thiyya community, considered higher in the caste hierarchy.

In her "party village" of Edat, the dominant Thiya community members, who were mostly supporters of the CPM, socially boycotted the young couple. "As I married a woman from a so-called lower caste, my family, relatives and other members of my caste boycotted us,” Shreeshkant told Onmanorama in September 2023. She was not allowed to draw water from the community well or neighbour's well.

In 2004, Chithralekha decided to drive an autorickshaw for a living. The other male auto drivers belonging to CITU, the trade union of the CPM, turned against her and abused her over her caste, he said. They used to vandalise her autorickshaw and slash the hood with blades. On New Year's Eve in 2005, her autorickshaw was set on fire. The CPM dismissed the arson attack as a local issue and did not acknowledge the caste violence. Police arrested one person but he was acquitted after the prosecution's eyewitnesses turned hostile.

In 2013, goons entered her house and attacked the family. Her brother-in-law and husband suffered injuries. The couple and their two children, Megha and Manu, fled Edat and moved to a rented house at Kattampally in Kannur City. There, the family got the support of the Congress for a brief time.

Late that year, Chithralekha decided to go on an indefinite protest in front of the Kannur District Collectorate, demanding social justice. When her protest went on for 122 days, the then Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy intervened to end the protest in February 2014. He promised to sanction a five-cent plot and build a house for her.

A year later, on January 5, 2016, she launched another indefinite protest in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram because Chandy did not keep his word. The government sanctioned Rs 5 lakh and a five-cent plot in Chirakkal grama panchayat, 7km from Puthiyatheru, in the fag end of Chandy's term as Chief Minister.

In the 2016 Assembly election, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded Chithralekha as a candidate in Aruvikkara constituency in Thiruvananthapuram. She came fifth with 673 votes (0.47% vote share). Congress's KS Sabarinadhan won from Aruvikkara.

However, in the state, the CPM-led LDF registered a resounding win. Almost immediately, the party cadres in Kannur set up a 'Landless Homeless Action Committee' to protest against the UDF government's decision to allocate her house. They claimed she owned land elsewhere and wanted her plot to be reassigned to other landless Dalits. Following the protest, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government ordered Chithralekha to vacate the house and property.

At that time, the construction of the house was complete till the lintel. The couple was forced to abandon their house. Congress leader and advocate Lally Vincent took up her case and approached the High Court. In March this year, Justice PV Kunhikrishnan ruled that the LDF government's order was illegal and allowed Chithralekha to take possession of the property, said Adv Vincent. "I took up her case pro bono because she was a fighter," she said.

In July 2023, her autorickshaw was set on fire again. When the police did not arrest anybody despite her naming a suspect, she launched another protest on September 15, 2023. She sat next to the charred autorickshaw in front of the protest.

In July 2024, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gave her an autorickshaw by paying a down payment of Rs 80,000. "The understanding was she would pay the EMI of Rs 8,100," said AAP's state Vice-President Aji Colonia. But auto drivers affiliated with the CITU illegally stopped Chithralekha and her husband Shreeshkant from picking up passengers from the auto stand near the AKG Centre, a stand of their choice, or anywhere within the city. "We approached the RTO several times. Even he pleaded helplessness," Shreeshkant told Onmanorama on Saturday, October 5. He said he was assaulted when he tried to reason with the other auto drivers.

Colonia said that they put a sticker that read 'Aam Aadmi Safari' on the autorickshaw hoping that it won't be set on fire because AAP and CPM are part of the INDI Alliance. "But Shreeshkant and Chithralekha could not benefit from the auto. She used to contact me every month seeking help to pay the EMI. Last she sent a message asking for Rs 1,000," he said.

Chithralekha's story will be told
British scriptwriter Fraser Scott said he was "diligently searching for the right director to tell the story of this brave, strong woman, who stood against the system for her rights".

He recalled sitting with her to hear her story. "I sat and ate prawns with Chithralekha in a five-star hotel in Kerala as she told me her life story," he said. "She was half expecting to be kicked out of the space because of her caste," he said.

Scott said he spent a year writing the script based on her life and sold it to a prominent film producer, who gave her Rs 10 lakh as half payment for her life story. "She used that money to build the house on the land she was given to escape her abusers," said Scott.

The next half of the money was to go to her when he found a director. "But now, on her passing, when we find the right director, that money will have to go to Shreeshkant, her husband and her family," he said. Chithralekha will be cremated at the Payyambalam Burial Ground on Sunday.