Sulthan Bathery: In 2003, Wayanad witnessed a witch-hunt when a section of the society targeted landless tribals and their supporters, with the connivance of the police and political leadership, for launching Muthanga agitation. While some were arrested and tortured in prison, some had to face the antipathy of a combative society.

KK Surendran, a former teacher at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Wayanad, recalls the challenging days and how VS Achuthanandan’s support altered the general public's perception of the struggle and the tribal people.

"Achuthanandan’s intervention saved my life when I was arrested, tortured and imprisoned, for offering educational support to the tribal children in the camps of Muthanga agitation," Surendran told Onmanorama. “As if singing the police’s tune, the society branded me a left-extremist and subjected me to extreme torture,” he said.

“There were some feeble voices against police action, but they were few in numbers and their voices were muffled,” Surendran said. “But VS’s entry into the scene and his support to the indigenous communities reframed the entire political scenario, forcing writers, national-level political leaders and ordinary workers to come in support of the tribal people.”

The communist leader and former chief minister passed away aged 101 in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

The Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha, headed by its firebrand leader C K Janu and political activist M Geethanandan, launched the agitation of the landless tribals in the Muthanga Range of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, on January 4, 2003. As the UDF ministry, headed by AK Antony, failed to resolve the issue amicably after one month, the agitation turned violent when the tribal people declared the encroached zone a protected area with self-rule under the 5th and 6th schedules of the Constitution and erected checkposts.

Ensuing clashes between tribal activists and forest staff ended in an eviction drive by the state government, which resulted in a police shootout leading to the death of a policeman and a tribal man on February 19.

In the post-Muthanga period, Wayanad witnessed a massive hunt of tribal people and their supporters. Local members of all parties, cutting across political hues, were active in helping police to find the ‘offenders’. Many of those who were targeted fled from the area to escape the persecution.

Driven by the landlord mindset, the zonal committees of the parties supported the hunt. To make matters worse, the official faction, the faction-ridden CPM, was against the agitation. In Wayanad, the lone sound of wisdom came from CK Saseendran, the leader of Adivasi Kshema Samithi, the tribal arm of the CPM.

VS visits prisoners
Immediately after the police firing, Geethanandan and Janu went underground. But they surrendered in two days and suffered brutal torture. Writers, activists and journalists who supported the agitation were threatened of an imminent arrest. Surendran, arrested from his residence on February 24, 2003, was taken to the Sulthan Bathery police station by noon, where policemen, one after another, beat him up. Members of the Armed Reserve Battalion let the fury of losing one of their colleagues on him.

Surendran still remembers VS’s soothing words when the latter came to the Central Prison at Kannur, to meet him. “He came to see me three days after my arrest. I could not walk, and the beatings had damaged my internal organs. VS ensured me healthcare, emotional support, and stood with me throughout my fight for justice from the state," he said. "I was neither a party cadre nor a VS supporter. But I am sure VS might have done the same for anyone in my place," he said. "Whenever I went to the Cantonment House (the official residence of the opposition leader), he was always supportive of me," Surendran said.

After his visit to Muthanga, VS met the injured tribal activists at the hospital. He visited some tribal hamlets and warned the elements engaged in a witch hunt of tribals. He used the media briefings to alert his partymen to stand against anti-tribal campaigns.

Though his party was still undecided, VS stood by the agitation’s cause. He met Janu and Geethanandan in prison in Kozhikode. That both were political foes for CPM in Wayanad, did not stop him.

"By visiting us in the prison, VS brought a sea of change in the post-Muthanga political scenario in the state," said Geethanandan. "In his words, there was spirit of compassion and support to the cause of tribals and the suppressed class,” Geethanandan told Onmanorama. Following his visit, there was a noticeable change in how the prison staff treated the duo.

Achuthanandan’s actions had a cascading effect on writers and intellectuals. MT Vasudevan Nair and Arundhati Roy, CPM leaders Sitaram Yechuri and Brinda Karat, came out in open to support the tribal activists and their struggle.

A man's political conviction saved many from torture and disgrace.