This Hindu family pledges to fight saffron agenda

His family happens to be the only one from the Hindu community to share the refugee camp set up at Chaliyam along with 32 Muslim families wh...

His family happens to be the only one from the Hindu community to share the refugee camp set up at Chaliyam along with 32 Muslim families which fled Marad after the May 2 carnage.

The 70-year-old Thekkethodi Sukumaran, whose house at trouble-torn Marad was looted by members of his own religion and whose six sons face death threat, has the grit to be positive. ‘‘I will have to maintain cordiality with Muslims,’’ he asserts.

Driven by faith in secular values, and fearing attacks from Hindu fanatics, Sukumaran, who has been at the receiving end of the wrath of Marad Araya Samajam since his refusal to accept the BJP-RSS ideology, along with his 24-member family, moved into houses of relatives outside Marad soon after the May 2 communal carnage. They landed at the CPM-run camp at Chaliyam two weeks back for better security.

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‘‘I saw some of my relatives among the gang which threatened me if I continued to work for social solidarity. The Araya Samajam people are driven by communal and casteist forces from outside. If we can’t overcome this communal agenda of Sangh Parivar, what will happen to our state?’’ he asks.

After 100 days of displacement, Sukumaran’s wife Sulochana has lost all faith in the government and the police machinery. ‘‘My house at Marad was looted by a Hindu mob soon after the carnage. They took away all the valuables, including television, almirah and wooden furniture. They also destroyed our fishing net worth Rs 2 lakh,’’ said an emotionally charged Sulochana.

Now the family has been excommunicated by the Araya Samajam. The right-wing organisation has already instructed the nearby Araya Samajams not to provide job, refuge or financial assistance to Sukumaran’s family. His sons have come under attacks of suspected BJP-RSS workers in the past four weeks for not supporting the Sangh Parivar agenda.

‘‘We are afraid of returning to Marad, an area virtually divided by fanatics among Hindus and Muslims. Why is the Araya Samajam punishing the entire Muslim community for the crime committed by a few? We have urged the CPM leadership to arrange a house outside Marad for my family,’’ Sukumaran says.