FIFTY years ago, in the morning of December 25, 1968, the landlords of  Keezhvenmani village in East Tanjore district, Tamil Nadu, unleashed one of the most violent attacks on dalits in independent India, killing 44 people including women and children.

The attacks began as the landless dalits in the village started to agitate for wage hike under the banner of CPI(M), which was gaining ground in the state. Unable to tolerate the rise of the red flag, the landlords there resorted to the most gruesome killings of the dalits.

The Keezhvenmani massacre is remembered as one of the goriest incidents in the history of independent India. On the day, the landlords entered the dalit colony along with their henchmen and attacked the helpless dalits who took refuge in a small hut. The hut was set afire by the arsonists and all the 44 people inside were charred to death.

All the routes of escape were blocked by the landlords and when two children were thrown out of the burning hut with a hope that they would survive, the vengeful attackers tossed them back into the flames. This act of barbarism shook the conscience of everyone not just in India and but the entire world.

On December 25, 2018, the 50th anniversary of commemoration of the Keezhvenmani massacre was observed with the participation of thousands of comrades. Thousands thronged the narrow winding roads to Keezhvenmani on the day to pay homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the agrarian class struggle. Thousands of villagers from the surrounding districts came by walk to pay homage.

The 50th anniversary commemoration meeting of Venmani martyrs was a milestone in the recent movement of the Party in Tamil Nadu. The commemoration function was held at Venmani Memorial site with the hoisting of Red flag by  K Balakrishnan, state secretary of CPI(M). A souvenir in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Venmani incident published by Theekkathir, Tamil daily and three more books written by Su.Po. Agasthiyalingam, Navakavi and Jevanandam were released in the function.

K Balakrishnan read out the message from Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary, of paying homage to the martyrs. Later, he said that the 50th anniversary is not just a commemorative event but a lesson to those who want to suppress the people’s struggle against oppression. Venmani martyrs’ day is an inspiration to the toiling people in their struggles.

The Red flag cannot be suppressed, not only in Venmani but also in the entire world and those who want to suppress will eventually be destroyed, he said.

The Communist movement in India faced many hurdles and was even banned in the country before and after independence too. Many conspiracy cases were foisted against communists and they faced the violence of the government with unflinching courage. Comrade P Ramamurthi won the elections from Madurai while he was in jail, he reminded.  

The Venmani struggle is not just a struggle for wages but also for communist principles. There are so many caste and peasant organisations in Tamil Nadu but it is only the red flag that brings them both on one platform where they jointly work for their demands.

The Modi government has neither waived off the agricultural loans nor raised the wages of agricultural workers. Demonetisation devastated the nation and did not abolish the black money. The promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every citizen’s account was not kept. In this juncture, the call of general strike on January 8 and 9 is a warning to the Modi government.

In the recent Sterlite struggle to close down the polluting factory, 14 innocent persons were gunned down by the police and no one was punished. Meanwhile the women who took loans from self help groups and were affected by cyclone are forced to repay the loads and are being threatened by the state administration. The loans should be waived, demanded Balakrishnan. He appealed to the gathering to overthrow the Modi and Edappadi government by voting them out in the parliamentary elections.

G Ramakrishnan, Polit Bureau member, recalled the long path traversed by the Red flag since 1943 from Thenparai. He narrated the massive movements conducted in the East Tanjore by the communists and their victories in favour of agricultural workers and especially the distribution of lands to the landless workers.

Due to the continuous heroic struggles of the communist movement during the DMK regime, the ceiling prescribed by the Land Ceiling Act which was 30 acres was reduced to 15 acres, Ramakrishnan said. He reminded about a landlord in the East

Tanjore district, Valivalam Desikar, who said that they tried to destroy the movement through violent means but they could not succeed. Desikar handed over the land to the landless workers and the same was distributed to the landless workers by the leaders like Comrade G Veerayyan, PS Dhanushkodi and others.

Due to the historic struggles waged by the communist movement, the Ganapathiya Pillai Commission had to send a report to the government recommending the handing over of the lands to the workers who are toiling in the lands of landlords, he pointed.

The meeting condoled the death of Comrade Nirupam Sen, former Polit Bureau member and minister of West Bengal. K Varadarajan moved the condolence motion.

The mammoth meeting was presided over by Nagai Malee, secretary, Nagapattinam district of CPI(M). A Soundararajan, P Sampath, U Vasuki, all Central Committee members, P Shanmugam, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Kisan Sabha (TNKS), Laser, state president of All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), members of Pradesh Committee, G Sugumaran, CITU, and other state-level and district-level leaders of the CPI(M) were present.

A Soundararajan hoisted the CITU flag and Laser hoisted the AIAWU flag.

Message

ON behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), I pay my solemn revolutionary homage to the 44 martyrs who were massacred in Keezhvenmani, 50 years ago, on Christmas day in 1968.

Dalit landless peasants and agricultural labourers had organised themselves as a union to demand higher wages at Keezhvenmani.  Being part of the undivided Tanjaore district, which witnessed an agricultural boom due to the induction of the Green Revolution, the demand for higher wages was only natural as the landlords were reaping very high profits. The landlords had formed a rival union and confronted the CPI(M) led union.  The following developments led to clashes and the gruesome incident where the dalit hutments were surrounded by the landlords’ armed goondas and 44 people, mainly women and children who could not escape, took sanctuary in a hut.  This was set on fire by the landlord goondas burning 5 men, 16 women and 23 children alive.

This heinous crime has become the symbol today for the convergence of the struggles against economic exploitation and social oppression.  Keezhvenmani continues to inspire the current struggles that are going on against both these aspects – economic exploitation and social oppression. 

While paying our revolutionary salute to the martyrs, I wish to convey the resolve of the CPI(M) to carry forward the current struggles with the ultimate aim of eliminating caste atrocities and discrimination and, at the same time, for ending human exploitation.

Red salute to Keezhvenmani martyrs.

Sitaram Yechury

December 24, 2018