Indefinite Dharna in front of Kannur Collectorate from 2014 Aprl 19th onwards

Edaat Chithralekha and her Family on Indefinite Dharna

At 10 am on 19th April 2014, Chithralekha E, the Dalit woman auto driver, who has been fighting caste atrocities of the CITU/CPM in Payannur, Kannur since 2005 started an indefinite dharna outside the Kannur collector’s office.  Various activists and intellectuals such as, Sowmya Isabel, Prof MJ Mary, Kallen Pokkudan, Shaji Mulloli, Syyapan sir, Munderi Balakrishnan, Jaseela,  Sajin, Gee Imaan Semmalar. Beena, Gopalan Thattary, Balan Rajesh Aroli, A Kumaran V V Prabhakaran, from Kannur and around participated in the Dharna along with Chithralekha, her mother Chandrika, Grandma Narayani who is 80, Megha, her daughter, and her husband Sreeshkanth.

Prof M.G Mary addressed the dharna and talked about the struggle of women in society and the need to chase the locals and feudal elites who have replaced the British colonial rule.

Kallen Pokkudan, Dalit activist and intellectual who inaugurated the dharna (as K K Kochu could not make it to the program today) talked about the decades of struggle of Ambedkarite Dalits. He challenged savarna dominated society to finish off Dalit families one by one since that is what they want to do. If we were born in Nair or Namboodiri families would this happen to us? Why do you want to make chitralekha a sacrificial figure? Is it for wealth, for fame, for purifiying society? What is your gain in this, for whom and for what, under whose leadership are you victimising Chitralekha? If we are proud of our communist history in our state, it is the same communists now who want to deny her fundamental rights granted by our father Babasaheb Ambedkar. He questioned why even the Rs 500 pension that Chitralekha’s 90 year old grandmother used to get has been stopped. He accused the DYFI union workers of trying to drive her out by closing off all livelihood options or sources of income for the family. Savarna society has no self respect, no shame, they think anything can be done in this great democracy to the most vulnerable like Adivasis and Dalits. I am a Pulayan. I suffered for being born in the womb of a pulaya woman. A Pulaya womb. I have suffered, lost a lot because of that. I request the administrative head of Kannur to safeguard the right to livelihood of this Dalit family and make provisions for their safety. We don’t want your advice or charity. We only want our rights. If you don’t give it to us, we will take it. Even if you kill this family, nobody will be here to testify as even a witness. This is our vulnerability. We have every right to live in this country that is more ours than yours. So give us our rights. The relationship between Chitra and me is one between two Dalits. This land belongs to those who toil on it. I inaugurate this Dharna today and I want to tell any opposition who is listening to not embarrass themselves by harassing this family like this. If anyone speaks for this family, in their support, they will threaten them. I request them to lead decent lives and do hard work for a living and let this family also do the same. Kallen Pokkudan also pointed out that Chitralekha’s husband, though not born Dalit, is being made to suffer because he dared to love and marry a Dalit woman.

Ayyapan sir, another Dalit activist who has been supporting chitralekha since 2005 when the harassment against her was brought into public domain narrated the sequence of events that led to the fabrication of false cases against Chitralekha and her husband. When they started asserting their rights, the victimisation became more intense. A simple event like a tiff about a goat eating up her plants ended up as a false murder case against her and her husband and a non registration of the SC/ST POA filed by her. This is the reality of a lot of Dalit families who live in fear that if they start asserting, they will be targeted.

When we spoke to the collector some weeks back , he promised that they would take action in a week, but no action has been taken. We will not withdraw this dharna before this issue is resolved. We extend solidarity to them in this struggle and request more people to join their fight for justice.

 Pictures from the Dharna

(Please see the translation below)

Translation of Dharna note

Inaugration : K K Kochu

Those participating : P K Ayappan Master, K Ajitha, Imaan, Rekha Raj, Kallen Pokkudan, Civic Chandran, Sonia George, Dr Surendranath, Soumya, Beena, Reshma Bharadwaj, Mary Teacher, Munderi Balakrishnan, K Chandrabhanu, Jaseela C V and others

This is for the public and the authorities to read and know about Eramangalath Chithralekha of Payannur, Kannur district.

I am a woman auto driver belonging to the Scheduled caste. From 2005 I am going through unbearable suffering at the hands of the male auto drivers of the Edaat auto rickshaw stand. It is the members of the CITU union who are attacking me. On 2005 October 11^ththey damaged my auto. On October 14^th they tried to kill me by hitting me with an auto. On December 31^st they burned my auto (KL-13L-8527). In 2006 December, when my sister’s husband tried to prevent them from attacking me and my family, he was cut with a huge knife and seriously injured. After this incident, afraid for our lives, we shifted out of Edaat for more than 2 years. When we came back after 2 years, in 2010 January 30^th, my husband Sreeshkanth and me were cruelly beaten up. We were attacked when we were standing before a medical store in Perumba, trying to buy medicine. On 2010 December 31^st my daughter Megha, my husband Sreeshkanth were beaten up the CITU auto drivers while we were in Payyanur Central Bazar. On December 23^rd they came as a group and ambushed me, my husband, my daughter Megha and my sister’s husband Saju. On 2013 February they tried to kill my husband Sreeshkanth by running him over with a bus. The CPM, CITU and DYFI workers are continuously attacking us who belong to a very poor Dalit family.

When I tried to get the second installment of the money given to SC/ST people for building toilets from the SC/ST welfare office, the officer there, Muralidharan, who is part of the NGO union, which is close to CPM, falsely alleged that we were trying to 

prevent him from conducting his official duties and got us arrested. Again on 31-11-2013, when a group of auto drivers got together and beat up my husband and took away his mobile phone and Rs 630, it was he who was implicated in yet another false case.

On 31-01-2014, around 5 PM, DYFI workers smashed to pieces the 2 autos outside my house and threatened that they would cut us to pieces like they did with T P Chandrashekaran. The fight happened when we stopped the DYFI people who came to untie the goat, which a migrant, under-aged worker had carelessly allowed to stray into our house and eat our plants. Though for the next three days there was no complaint that anyone had attacked or tried to attack Ramesh (16 years), the CPM and DYFI regional leaders, Payannur CI Abdul Rahman and SI Shaji Pattery conspired together and implicated me and my husband Sreeshkanth in an attempt to murder case (IPC-380) and put my husband in jail for 32 days. I am the First accused in this case and I have had to acquire a bail from the respected court.

In the given circumstance, strict action should be taken against the CITU and DYFI workers who are denying me and my husband the fundamental right to earn our livelihood and the cases that have been planted on us through the conspiracy of Payannur SI Shaji Patery and CI Abdul Rahman should be withdrawn, and SI Shaji Patery and CI Abdul Rahman should be suspended and strict action taken against them based on the SC/ST POA law. In order to call the attention of the authorities towards this, my family members and me, with the support of the public, will be sitting on an indefinite Dharna before the Kannur Collectorate from 10 AM on April 19th.

Chithralekha E