The political violence in Kerala to which President Ram Nath Kovind drew attention carries a gory legacy. It has drawn nourishment from the contradictions in the state’s socio-political culture. Kerala swings between two extremes — the Right and the Left. This is the genesis of the violence that has come to dominate the political discourse. While the two ruling alliances, LDF and UDF, seem to have buried the hatchet, the rise of the BJP in India, especially with its presence at the Centre, has contributed significantly in polarising Kerala voters. The shadow of violence is most palpable in Kannur, a northern district nestled between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. The politics of vendetta has claimed at least 96 lives in the district in a little over 23 years, with both the CPI-M and the BJP-RSS losing an equal number of people. 

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The violence in Kerala, especially in Kannur, follows a distinct pattern. Both political parties employ local, unemployed youths as mercenaries who are also motivated by caste politics. Since killers enjoy political patronage, investigations are tardy and the rate of conviction poor. There is a clear breakdown of law and order. The CPI-M is unnerved by the RSS’s growing base in the state since the latter held its first rally in the forties. Over the years, the killings have been maximum in those spells when the CPI-M was in power in Kerala. Kannur became the epicentre of the political cataclysm because of the strong influence of a warrior culture and the CPI-M resisting other parties, including the Congress, from making inroads into its bastion. While the Congress eventually bowed out to the Left’s henchmen, the RSS-backed footsoldiers doggedly kept up the challenge. The bloody confrontations between two dedicated cadre-based organisations could only lead to a spike in body count. Strangely, this culture of violence is deep-rooted in a state that is perhaps most forward-looking in the Indian context. Kerala has the best literacy rate and the lowest population growth-rate as well as the highest female-to-male ratio and human development index. It has a sterling record in social development indices such as poverty alleviation, elementary education, healthcare and financial inclusion.

In many ways, the Kerala model has set the goals for the rest of the country; the state government’s liberal, compassionate outlook towards the marginalised sections of society has consistently attracted praise from all quarters. Kerala also has a rich syncretic culture evolving from religious and cultural diversities, which very few states can boast of. And, yet, it has often butchered peace in the single-minded pursuit of political hegemony. President Kovind’s observations on Kerala are pertinent because they highlight the state’s curious contradictions: How a liberal, educated society that has given birth to many thinkers and reformers has institutionalised and glorified bloodletting. West Bengal, which had been in the iron grip of CPI-M for 34 years and is ruled by Trinamool Congress that follows the Left template to the T, is witness to similar violent tendencies in the battle over political space. Sadly, the space for debates and discussions have shrunk in contemporary politics.