‘The RSS is frustrated... Kerala is politically literate’

Monu Rajan

In 1999, P Jayarajan nearly lost an arm in an attempt on his life, allegedly by RSS workers. The severed limb was sutured back, but is only partially mobile today. The CPI(M)’s District Secretary, Jayarajan was recently booked for plotting the murder of an RSS functionary, who was involved in the 1999 case. Excerpts from an interview:

How do you view the violence in Kannur?

The phrase ‘Kannur violence’ is a creation of the right-wing media. It is intended to mask the right-wing violence that the country is witnessing, to implement the right-wing agenda. Why is there no such thing as ‘RSS violence’, since it is they who kill in the name of the cow? In Haryana, 38 people were killed when [Dera Sacha Sauda chief] Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was declared guilty. Muslims were killed when Narendra Modi was the Gujarat Chief Minister. Is Kerala witness to any such violence? Kerala is a politically literate State.

But it appears as though the CPI(M) is justifying the killings.

The killings are part of the resistance against the RSS schemes. In Karnataka, Gauri Lankesh was killed. Some intellectuals have come forward to protest the murder. But, where is the resistance from the masses?

Here, ordinary citizens have come out in protest. And the RSS is frustrated. The Sangh finds that it is not able to make a Gujarat or an Uttar Pradesh out of Kerala.

There have been repeated talks between both parties. Where do you see this ending?

We’re moving forward on the basis of the agreement between the political leadership of both sides. And yet there is repeated provocation from the RSS. Now you tell me, people like you, people from the media...you measure the RSS and the CPI(M) on the same balance, do you not?

They are both political outfits, yes...

(excitedly) That’s where you’ve got it wrong. That’s your basic mistake. The RSS has no members. How does it function? Here, arts and sports clubs in the countryside, traders, women’s organisations all have memberships. But the RSS has none. It is a private sena (militia). The CPI(M), on the other hand, is a democratic organisation.

The RSS claims it is not allowed to function in CPI(M) strongholds. The friction created thereof is the trigger for the violence.

Precisely! The resistance of the people against the RSS is effective in Kerala, unlike in other States. This is frustrating the Sangh. To overcome this, they have been resorting to violence.

But a murder is never justified.

No one is justifying murder. But it is the RSS that initiates the whole cycle of violence. Take, for example, the clashes in Thiruvananthapuram. At Mahatma Gandhi College, no outfit but the ABVP (RSS student wing) is allowed to function. When the SFI [the CPI(M)’s student wing] attempted to begin operations, they were intolerant and it led to clashes.

But in the nearby University College, which is an SFI bastion, no other student organisation is welcome.

Let others function. We’re not asking them not to. Let’s wrap up (gestures to others waiting outside to come in).