This Article is From Aug 04, 2017

Kerala RSS Worker's Murder: Data Reveals Record Of Political Killings

The brutal murder of an RSS worker in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram has sparked a huge row over political killings in the state.

Rajesh Edavakode, an RSS worker, was killed allegedly by CPM activists in Kerala last month.

Thiruvananthapuram: Days after Rajesh Edavakode, a worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was murdered allegedly by communist activists, his 31-year-old wife Rehena Rajesh can't bear to think about her future with two young children and aged parents.

Rajesh, a member of the overarching right-wing volunteer organisation since the age of 9, was brutally attacked and murdered on July 29. Police say the suspects in the incident had links to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, but Rajesh was murdered for personal reasons. The RSS is the ideological mentor of the BJP and is tasked with carving a base for the party in a state traditionally dominated by the ruling Left and the Congress.

"Why was he killed so brutally with 52 stab marks? For what mistake? This is a political murder by CPM," his wife Rehena said.

The RSS has alleged that CPM-led government in Kerala has been targeting BJP and RSS workers as it is afraid of the BJP's growing influence. "Kerala government is misusing its powers. We want a central agency to probe the killings," said RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale in New Delhi today. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to visit the Kerala on Sunday to visit Rajesh's family.

Police records with details of every political murder between 2000 and 2017 accessed exclusively by NDTV impugn both the political fronts in Kerala. In the last 17 years, 85 CPM workers, 65 RSS or BJP workers, 11 workers of Congress and IUML each have been killed - mostly by their political rivals including CPM and RSS or BJP.

A CPM activist from Kannur, 43-year-old Sreejan Babu, has been in the Kozhikode's Baby Memorial Hospital for almost a month, after he was brutally attacked by nine masked men - believed to be right-wing activists. His wife Remya Sreejan, a CPM councillor, said, "This is nothing but a conspiracy. We don't even know why he was attacked by our political rivals. And this is not the first time."

"In the last one year, 13 of our workers have been killed," alleged CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury. 

However, according to police statistics, 10 RSS or BJP workers have been murdered since February last year while four CPM workers have been killed due to suspected political rivalry.
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