Unbelievable ! Does this happen in kerala, that too in KANNUR, the marxist's own land !
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 7:47 PM, jenny rowena <jenny.chit...@gmail.com>wrote: > Dear Friends, Most of you must be aware of Chithra Lekha *(please see > details of her case below)* and her brave struggle to make a living as an > auto rickshaw driver in Kannur, Kerala. Many of us had contributed to help > her procure an auto rickshaw after it was burned, allegedly by CITU > activists. > > > Recently, Chithra Lekha was trapped in what she says is a false case and > taken to the police station and beaten up. Though she has been let off now, > she has many injuries and has no way to question the violence that has > happened to her. *(A detailed report of the incident by Venugopal who > visited Chithra Lekha and talked to her, is given below).* > > > > Though a few people have been trying for a whole day, we are finding it > difficult to get many people at the local level to intervene actively in > this case. There are not many who are ready to stand against the CPM or > CITU. And some of those who raised their voices are penalised for the same. > Chithra finds herself alone in many ways and is so distressed that she is > even thinking of surrendering the auto rickshaw that she has procured with > all our help and going back to the life of exile as before If this happens > then it would be like the local goons have succeeded in driving out a Dalit > woman from her village and stopped her from doing the work that she had > wanted and chosen to do. > > > > Friends if we do not do anything now soon it might be too late. It would be > like we are standing and watching while a woman who has put up such a brave > struggle is ostracized and thrown out of her own native place. Let us please > all stand in solidarity with Chithra Lekha at this juncture. Please > respond to this issue as soon as possible. > > > > We are thinking of a fact finding commission and also making the issue > publicly known. Whoever is interested in joining the commission please write > to us. > > > > Please make this issue known widely and let as many people as possible > decide to intervene. > > > > Also please call up Chithra Lekha and extend your moral support to her at > this point. > > Here are her numbers: *9526128764* and *9744361941* > > > > Any other help and suggestion is also welcome > > > > Anil Tharayath Varghese – 009971170738 > > K M Venugopal - 9447488215 > > Jenny Rowena P - 09868216719 > > Carmel Christy – 09958500931 > > > > > > *Given below is a Report of what happened recently by K M Venugopal, who > was a member of the 2008, Chithra Lekha rehabilitation committee:* > > > > The Payyanur Auto Workers, CITU is again continuing its policy of hatred > toward > the couple, one of whom is a dalit woman whose auto rickshaw had been set > fire and destroyed in 2005 December, following a series of incidents of > harassment at work place. The incident narrated by Chithralekha and her > husband Sreeshkanth, is > as follows: > > This morning, Chithralekha was about to park her auto rikshaw in front of > a medical shop to buy medicine for their son who had received a sting by > honey bee. She was also accompanied by Sreeshkanth, her husband. One Mr > Ramachandran who is an office bearer of the Autorikhaw Union of Payyanur > menacingly asked her to move her auto away from the parking spot. She > replied that she had the lawful permit to park and had every right to do so. > > > > > An altercation followed between the couple and a few auto workers. After a > few moments, a police jeep arrived and bundled the couple to the vehicle. > They got severely beatings by the autoworkers even as they got into the jeep > and in presence of the police. When Chithralekha told the Inspector that her > valuables and cash were inside the auto rickshaw, the officer assured them > that that would be taken care of. > > > After reaching the Police Station, the couple were severely beaten. A woman > police Officer beat Chithralekha black and blue and her sari was almost > pulled off. Later, Sreeshkanth was taken to the hospital for a check for > intoxication; though Chithralekha also was compelled to get examined, she > protested and resisted the move, sensing that the police were acting in > a biased manner and they would get her booked for driving inebriated under a > false testimony by some doctor. > > Chithralekha was later released but had to go to the hospital due to her > injuries. She has injuries all over the body and also in the lower stomach. > She is not only in great pain, but is also left almost alone without no help > from any one in questioning the actions of the union workers and the police. > > > > > > > *The Chithra Lekha Case* > > * * > > Chithra Lekha was born into a Pulaya family, which is an ex-untouchable > caste in Keralam. After her marriage to Shreeshanth a Thiyya (an OBC caste) > auto driver, she went on to buy an auto rickshaw - KL 13L 8527 in Chitra > Lekha’s name under the PMRY loan scheme. > > The auto stand in Payyannur in which Chithra Lekha wanted to drive her auto > was controlled by the CITU, the trade union that belongs to the Communist > Party of India, Marxist (CPI (M)). In order to drive her auto, Chithra Lekha > had to be granted a membership card from the CITU. This card was delayed for > more than 2 months as the party was already angry with Chithra Lekha for > having married above her caste. > > In spite of such harassment Chithra Lekha turned out to be a competent > driver and became very popular with her customers, especially women. When > she started her career there had been a coin operated phone at the auto > stand where the customers would call for drivers. Soon, Chithra Lekha > started getting the most number of calls from this phone. This she feels > disturbed her fellow male drivers. After a few months she bought a mobile > phone and now people started calling for her even more than before. This > made the drivers feel even more threatened. > > > > All these problems took a violent turn during the Navami or Saraswathy > Pooja days when Chithra Lekha placed her auto in the common Pandal for * > pooja*. When she came to take back the auto on the next day, that is on > October 11, 2005, she found that the hood of her auto was torn. Ajith, one > of the CITU members who had threatened her earlier was standing there and > she asked him why did he tore the hood. He retaliated saying that if you > don’t keep your limits you will also be torn like this. She complained about > the incident to Rameshan, fellow auto driver and the Secretary of the local > branch of CITU, but to no avail. Since there was no response from Rameshan > or CITU, she lodged a complaint with the police after two days. When she > came back to the stand on October 14th Rameshan gave her a two hour > punishment of abstention, for having taken the case out of the stand to the > police station. Chithra Lekha declined to obey it, at which point an angry > Rameshan tried to run over Chithra Lekha with his auto. She moved to the > other side of the road and escaped the attack. However she sustained minor > injuries and had to be hospitalized. Yet another compliant was lodged > against Rameshan and he was arrested. Immediately CITU members unleashed a > poster campaign in support of Rameshan. They stuck posters and wrote on the > walls of the panchayath that Chithra Lekha and her mother were loose women > who were bringing up the issue of caste only to hide their immoral natures. > Soon, violence took its worst form when her auto was burned to ashes on the > small hours of December 30th 2005. With the help of Ayyappan Master, a > Dalit activist and member of the police committee to prevent atrocities > against SC/STs, Chithra Lekha lodged a complaint against six CITU members > including Ajith and Rameshan. The case was registered under IPC 143, 147, > 148, 341, 352, 324, 294 (B), 506 (1), SC/ST S3 (1) XI R/W and 149. An action > committee was also formed to protest against what happened and also to > rehabilitate Chithra Lekha ** > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Green Youth Movement" group. > To post to this group, send an email to greenyo...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<greenyouth%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to greenyo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
