Kasaragod:
The long-standing demand for an AIIMS in Kasaragod has sparked many protests over the years, but Monday’s march stood out for its unlikely leader -- a donkey.

The AIIMS Kasaragod People’s Collective set out from the New Bus Stand in Kasaragod, walking the 26 km stretch to Kanhangad with a donkey riding ahead on a mini-truck, a placard strapped to it reading: “Kasaragod needs AIIMS.” Protesters leaned into the symbolism -- both the animal’s stubbornness, and the message that Kasaragod’s people should not be taken for granted.

“However long you may ignore Kasaragod, however you may treat its people like donkeys, we will not abandon our demand for AIIMS,” said Sreeja Purushothaman, a leader of the collective, addressing the marchers at Madiyan near Kanhangad.

The collective has been seeking an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a premier super-speciality healthcare and research centre, in Kasaragod for about 15 years. Their latest protest was timed with the local body polls under the banner ‘One vote for AIIMS’. The march began at 9 am in Kasaragod and passed through Melparamba, Udma, Palakkannu, Bekal Junction, Palikkara and Madiyan before winding up in Kanhangad.

Collective vice-president Hakkeem Bekkal said the district had reached a breaking point. “It’s been 40 years since Kasaragod was formed, yet we still don’t have the treatment facilities available in the other 13 districts,” he said. “Parents of endosulfan victims are still running around without proper care. In the name of a medical college, we have a few buildings and 50 students. The General Hospital is called a teaching hospital, but that is an eye-wash.”

He urged the people to keep taking up the cause with the elected representatives. “If not by pointing fingers, then at least with folded hands, we must appeal for AIIMS in the district to those seeking our votes. We should tell them we are not a people who have lost the ability to respond.”

Protesters accused major parties of keeping Kasaragod low on the priority list. While the LDF is pitching Kozhikode for AIIMS, BJP leaders such as Suresh Gopi have floated Alappuzha and Thrissur. The Kasaragod BJP unit often joins the collective’s protest demanding AIIMS in Kasaragod, revealing a politics driven more by convenience than conviction.

When asked about AIIMS, CPM state secretariat member M V Jayarajan, who was in Kasaragod on Monday, avoided a firm commitment.

Speaking at Palakunnu, the Collective’s general convenor Sreenath Sasi said Kasaragod needed a real tertiary-care hospital, not a half-functioning medical college that winds up outpatient service by afternoon. He argued that land and connectivity favour Kasaragod, with large tracts of government land, NH 66 access, and two international airports nearby.

Organiser A K Prakash said the donkey was hired from a church in Ambalathara and transported in a tempo to avoid causing the animal distress. “The idea was to draw attention to our cause, not to put the donkey through any hardship,” he said.