Onchiyam is a historic village in Kozhikode district in north Kerala. Way back in 1948, when the Communist Party had been banned by the post-colonial Indian state, this village, a communist stronghold, had become well known as a site of police repression and people’s resistance. On 30 April, 1948, a police party had come to raid the village to arrest some leading communist activists. The people protested, and the police opened fire on the unarmed protesters, killing eight persons on the spot. Fierce repression followed and two more villagers succumbed to the injuries they had received in the course of police torture.

Ever since then April 30 is observed by communists in Kerala as the Onchiyam martyrs day to pay tribute to the ten martyrs (Comrades Menon Kanaran, Alavakkal Krishnan, Purayil Kanaran, Parollathil Kanaran, V.K. Chathu, K.P. Ravutti, K.M. Sankaran, and V.P. Gopalan all of whom died on the spot and Comrades Mantoti Kannan and Kollanicheri Kumaran who died later in the hospital) who had laid down their lives, standing up for the communist party and challenging the repressive might of the police.

Two years ago, Onchiyam was back in the news when on the 60th anniversary of the Onchiyam martyrs day large number of local CPI(M) cadres and members rebelled against the party and formed a new organization called Revolutionary Marxist Party. Four months later on August 24, 2008 DYFI rebels too formed a parallel organization called DYFI (Revolutionary). Defying physical attacks by the local CPI(M) organization, the rebels have since spread their network and developed their organization, especially in the districts of north Kerala.

Today, this statewide network operates in the name of Left Coordination Committee. In the last Lok Sabha election, the LCC put up half a dozen candidates and in Vadakara (the LS constituency containing Onchiyam) and Palakkad, their nominees polled more than 20,000 votes. This year’s Onchiyam Day witnessed heightened contention between the LCC and the CPI(M). While the CPI(M) and CPI jointly observed Onchiyam Day, the LCC organized weeklong programmes in and around Onchiyam culminating in an impressive mass meeting at Onchiyam village on May 2. Incidentally, Comrade Dipankar was also present at Kozhikode on May 2 as part of his three-day Kerala tour and the LCC invited him as a special guest to the Onchiyam programme.

Comrade Dipankar paid rich tributes to the Onchiyam martyrs and congratulated the LCC and especially Onchiyam comrades for keeping alive the glorious legacy of the martyrs. He expressed the hope that the LCC would learn from the negative examples of erstwhile CPI(M) leaders like Raghavan and Gauri Amma, who ended up joining the UDF in the name of fighting against the CPI(M). He said that since the LCC had its origin in ideological struggle inside the CPI(M) – fighting against the ‘updated’ programme adopted at the 2000 Thiruvananthapuram plenum and the growing corruption and bureaucratic and pro-corporate degeneration of the CPI(M) establishment in Kerala, the CPI(ML) expects the LCC to uphold the banner of independent Left assertion in Kerala. Comrade Dipankar wished them every success in this direction and assured them of every cooperation on behalf of the CPI(ML) towards a countrywide realignment of genuine Left forces and rejuvenation of the Left movement.

On behalf of LCC, Comrade KS Hariharan, editor of Janshakthi weekly, and Comrade Chandrashekhar addressed the memorial meeting and vowed to intensify the battle against the CPI(M)’s opportunism and link it with genuine Left forces in different parts of the country. It should be mentioned that the Janshakthi weekly published an article by Comrade Dipankar in two parts beginning with the Bishu (Malayalam new year) special number. Comarde Hariharan also attended the IIMS discussion meetings addressed by Comrade Dipankar in Kozhikode (2 May evening) and Thiruvananthapuram (4 May evening).

On May 14 the LCC organized a national seminar on “The Crisis of the Left and Prospects of Future” in Kozhikode. Com. Muralidharan, State Secretary of LCC, chaired the inaugural session and Com. Mangatram Pasla, General Secretary of CPM (Punjab), inaugurated the seminar. Com. Chandrashekar, State President of LCC, welcomed the gathering and Advocate Kumaran Kutty introduced the topic. Among the guest speakers was Com. V. Shankar, CCM of CPI(ML), who mooted the formation of an alternative Left forum to bring together forces fighting against the CPI(M)’s opportunism. The seminar was also addressed by comrades MM. Somasekharan, one of the prominent and former leaders of the erstwhile CPI(ML) (Red Flag), Dr. KN. Ajay Kumar, former leader of CPI(ML) (Red Star) led by KN Ramachandran, KC Umesh Babu and KS Hariharan, Editor of Janashakthi. The determination to hold on to the Left ground in Kerala reverberated through the entire programme.

V. Shankar