Sirajunnisa – The Forgotten Hindutva Victim!

Today, 15th of December, 2020 marks the 29th Martyrdom of the then 6th Grade School Student of Thondikulam UP School & 11-year-old Muslim Girl, Sirajunnisa who was murdered while playing in the courtyard of her house at Puthuppalli in Palakkad District of Kerala. How is she a ‘Martyr’? Did she participate in any Political Revolutionary Movements? No. She was an Apolitical innocent school going child. Then why is her death anniversary observed as Martyrdom?

She was murdered by the Hindutva Islamophobic Police of the Congress Government of Kerala. But even before, as well as after her murder, people including little children have got murdered by the Police, so what’s difference in her case? She was murdered only because of her religion and was later used by CPI(M) as a Political Tool. We can also say that she’s a victim of Selective Amnesia and Betrayed victim of CPI(M). You will come to know about it in this article.

Fascists are Selective, and Parliamentary Political Parties are Selective for their existence. But the problem is that the Victims of Fascism suffers from Selective Amnesia. We know Hindutva Fascists are selective on their enemies and Sirajunnisa makes into their list, and the parliamentary parties like CPI(M) used the murder case of Sirajunnisa as part of their opportunistic political activism for mere votes. Enemies and Betrayers are different. History of Congress is not different from RSS. We can see how Congress opened windows for Hindutva Brahmanism in India. But CPI(M) has protected and closed their eyes towards Hindutvaadi’s violence when CPI(M) was part of the ruling class in Kerala. An example of it is the silence & inaction by the Police in 2019 against the Hindutva Terrorists who publicly threatened to kill Muslims and destroy mosques at Kozhikode. Here the Enemy is Congress, the Betrayer is CPI(M) in case of Sirajunnisa and both the parties in a way did what BJP usually does in their controlled states.

We all know that the Demolition of Babri Masjid on 6th December, 1992 was a pre-planned one, and not a sudden action by Hindutva Terrorists. RSS and other Hindutva terror groups have held Pre-Babri Demolition Rallies all across the country to spread hate and it has also travelled through Kerala.
On 13th December, 1991, Upayatra led by Yuva Morcha Kerala State President, KP Shrishan who was meant to join the BJP National President, Dr Murali Manohar Joshi’s Ekta Yatra ( Kashmir to Kanyakumari) was attacked in Mepparambu, Palakkad, Kerala. Just like BJP wanted, violent communal attacks were instigated against minorities throughout the journey. Tense situations prevailed on the very next day and Police were stationed and were given the instructions to control Law & Order. But the Police who are meant to chain the mad turned out to be mad. On December 15, reports came that several minor skirmishes were instigated by RSS and for avoiding & curbing further clashes police were deployed to the area. But instead of arresting the fascists, police harassed & attacked innocent Muslims. Raman Srinivastava was the Director Inspector General of Kerala Police and was also the Right Hand of then Congress Chief Minister Karunakaran who is known for granting extra-judicial power to the Police during the Emergency Period.

Raman Srinivastav was the head of Police operations in wake of the violence and he directed his Junior colleagues from the Police Control Room. Assistant Superintendent of Police, B Sandhya was patrolling through Puthuppally junction and was informed that roads were blocked using huge stones. Being a senior officer, she rushed to the spot after being told about the blockade. After an old aged pedestrian was forced to remove the stone, arguments took place between the police and locals. Extra forces were stationed and in wake of section 144, Police were present in all points of the road. At this time Sirajunnisa and her sister were playing in front of her home which is 200 metres away from the above-mentioned place. The Police team reported about the scuffle through the wireless to DIG and Raman Srinivastava asked whether anyone was present on the streets. ASP Sandhya and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Chandran replied everyone dispersed and there were only 2 kids on the streets. “Shoot them down if no one else is around and let them die like dogs.” was Raman Srinivastav’s reply. She reported that everything was peaceful and no actions were needed. The final order by Raman Srinivastava to Sandhya and Chandran was, “I want to see the dead bodies of Muslim Bastards”. Constables easily executed the order of DIG by shooting Sirajunnisa who was playing in the courtyard of her house and the bullet hit just below Sirajunisa’s nose and exited through the back of her head, which resulted in her instant death. From the Fact-Finding Report done on this issue by Yuvajana Vedhi, Arora Online was given information by a social activist named Hamza of Palakkad. From it, Arora Online came to know that a jeep with Police officers came and without any warning & provocation, fired at a house and at Sirajunnisa. Hamza also claimed that the constable who is said to have shot Sirajunnisa cried in front of him and told that it was someone else who fired the girl, not him. The constable who hailed from lower caste and is said to have suffered from mental trauma after the incident and controversies which followed it.

After hearing the gunshots, neighbours, mother & uncle of Sirajunnisa rushed to the spot. They were brutally lathi-charged by the police and they were not even allowed to pick Sirajunnisa. Sulaiman and Muhammad were the ones to pick Sirajunnisa from the road and they testified that Police brutally beat them. Sulaiman who is the uncle of Sirajunnisa testified that even the mother and elder sister of Sirajunnisa got beaten by Police. The onlookers and others who offered help to the family of the girl in the road were beaten to a pulp by the heartless police officers. After the brutality, Police took the child in the jeep to the hospital who was already dead.

Disgustingly, even after murdering her, Police marked her as a “Communalist/Rioter” by naming her as 1st Accused in FIR which reported, “Sirajunisa was leading a violent mob of more than 200 people to the nearby Brahmins-dominated village to indulge in violence and arson”. From the fact-finding report, we got the contents of the FIR. The report says that mob in which Sirajunnisa was accused to be part of carried stones, Kerosene, and sticks for attacking. In their report, Police told that they had no way but to fire at the mob in which the girl was part of. But facts and realities prove that no violent incidents happened in the area where Sirajunnisa stayed. Sirajunnisa lived in a Muslim populated area and it had no history of communalism and lived in harmony with other communities. Suppose if she was part of the mob, why wasn’t the warning shot fired? Why was no warning in form of announcements were made? The fact-finding report will bring tears to every reader’s eye because whoever was spotted by police were brutally tortured physically. Since the area was dominated by Muslims, all of the victims were Muslims. The FIR was killing Sirajunnisa and the oppressed Muslim community again and again. The government handed over compensation of 10,000 to her family only in the year 2000 to close the case.

Naming her in FIR was to justify the murder done by Police. This Colonial practise can be seen during the times of 1921 Malabar Revolt by Malabar Special Police and British. British Government labelled Muslim Revolutionaries as communalists and butchers of Hindus. Surprisingly still today the Website of Malabar Special Police shows those Muslim Revolutionaries as Religious Fanatics. Not only British and Congress, but CPIM also did the same when they were in power. Beemapalli Massacre happened during the term of LDF Government of VS Achuthandan. On 17the May-17, 2009, 6 Muslims including a 16-year-old boy hailing from fishermen coastal area of Beemapalli, Trivandrum was murdered by Kerala Police. 30-52 other people were also injured from bullet injuries and the shooting stopped only when the police ran out of ammunition. Police told that shooting orders were given to quell the communal clashes. Police also added that the Muslim community planned to attack a Christian church. The 16-year-old boy who was playing in the beach was murdered using the bayonet of the Police Gun. The communal clashes never took place there and look, the same angle used by British & Congress government in Kerala was also used by the self-proclaimed secular CPI(M). In Beemapalli Massacre, no officer was dismissed or punished. They were suspended for namesake only to be promoted and reinstated in service later.
Even the factfinding report of CPIM Delhi on North East Delhi Muslim Pogrom shows their art of Balancing for appeasing Hindu voters. The report says there were criminals on both sides, through this CPIM is equating the actual perpetrator ( Sangh Parivar) with victims (Muslims) who are unorganised.

When protests were organised by Common People against GAIL pipeline in Kodiyathoor village of Kozhikode, CPI(M) called them “Muslim Extremists”. When Yogi Adithyanath has a discussion on Love Jihad in a TV program, he quoted the words of CPI(M) former PB member and Chief Minister, VS Achuthandan to defend his position on Love Jihad. On 24th July, 2010, VS Achuthandan rejected that Love Jihad was just a fiction created by Hindutva & Christian Fundamentalists. He said Muslim groups are using money and marriages to increase the population & convert Kerala into a Muslim Majority State. CPI(M), Congress and BJP believe that it’s easy to blame Muslims so that public conscience will wholeheartedly digest it. Through these comments by CPI(M) leaders, they are agreeing & accepting the propaganda of Sangh Parivar. They are helping the Sangh Parivar by fuelling their hateful ideologies.

There were a lot of witnesses to Raman Srinivastava’s monstrous order through Wireless which includes the then Irrigation minister, TM Jacob, MLAs and other officials who were attending a meeting at the Palakkad District Collectorate. The Murder of Sirajunnisa was used as a political election tool by CPI(M) in Ottapalam Lok Sabha Constituency against Congress for elections. To no surprise, no actions were taken against the Police officers who were responsible for murdering Sirajunnisa. Raman Srinivastav and the officers who were directly presented in the spot was not even touched and all investigations were conducted for namesake. After the Complaint was filed by social activist and witness, Koolkadan Moosa Haji in Supreme court, SC instructed Kerala Government to handover the case to a Police officer with a minimum rank of IG. The investigation was headed by Sibi Mathews IPS and due to delay in investigation and interests of state government and police, the perpetrators escaped. The Yohannan Judicial Commission which investigated the case concluded that a stray bullet hit an electric post and then a shred from it hit the girl’s head. But the electric post mentioned in the report was only installed after the 2nd month of Sirajunnisa’s murder. The ballistic and forensic report stated that it was a bullet shot from a police gun which resulted in her death. The commission didn’t even register the statements of witnesses to Sirajunnisa’s murder and those who were lathi-charged while picking her from the spot. The entire Judicial System and Left & Right Government helped the culprits to escape. Most importantly It took 8 years for Clearing the name of Sirajunnisa from the list of rioters. Under EK Nayannar’s government, Crime Branch concluded that 11-year-old Sirajunnisa is innocent. Surely, the Brahmanic Conscience of Kerala must have got offended by the report.

When we speak of CPI(M) and Congress who boasts themselves as saviours of marginalised and mascot of secularism in India, we should also speak of Muslim Parliamentary Political Organisations who are nothing more than hypocrites.The so-called Hypocrite guardian of Muslims, Jamaat E Islami (Welfare Party) & Popular Front of India (SDPI) has joined hands with the Hindutva Congress and Revisionist CPIM for elections in various parts of Kerala. It’s a fact that injustice & loss of Sirajunnisa is below the electoral votes of these parties. Indian Union of Muslim League who was with the Karunakaran government in UDF then in 1991 didn’t hit the streets when Raman Srinivastav gave Islamophobic directions to kill a child. Even Indian National League (INL) of LDF don’t dare to question about Srinivastav’s appointment.

Raman Srinivastav was promoted to the post of DGP by Congress Chief Minister Oomen Chandy in 2005 and he later held posts as Director-General of BSF and Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs. After his retirement, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo Member and Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan personally appointed Raman Srinivastava as State Police Advisor in 2017 despite his infamous history. It should be noted that it was CPI(M) who protested against Raman Srinivastav and Karunakaran government in 1991 for killing Sirajunnisa. The State Police Advisor is also the present Security Advisor of a Private Corporate Company, Muthoot Group in Kerala.

This case of Sirajunnisa should not be decreased to the matter of Islamophobia and of an individual alone. This tells us the presence of Hindutva in all of the Political Parties and rise in Police Raj. When Kerala government was criticised by the public for the 118 Police Act Amendment, Pinarayi Vijayan had no other option other than to withdraw it and he told, it was a mistake by his Police Advisor. He earlier strongly defended the Act. So who is controlling the Chief Minister of Kerala and his decisions? If we check the statistics we can know that there is an increase in custodial deaths of Undertrials/Accuseds in Police Custody. On another side, Political Activists were charged under UAPA and Extra-Judicial killings of 8 Maoists by Thunderbolt Commandos took place after LDF and Raman Srinivastav came into power. Undoubtedly we can say that it’s Srinivastav who is controlling the strings of Pinarayi Vijayan’s Home Department. The 1973 Batch IPS officer, Srinivastav who was blamed in 1994 for alleged involvement in the infamous ISRO espionage case was also recently blamed within CPIM for the recent vigilance raid in Kerala State Financial Enterprise Office, but still, Pinarayi didn’t doubt Raman Srinivastav. We should ask ourselves, why Pinarayi Vijayan personally appointed a retired Police officer as his Police advisor? The interests & history of Raman Srinivastav, Loknath Behera’s past statements and Pinarayi Vijayan’s soft nature on Police are in favour of the ruling class and ruling ideas of Brahmanic Hindutva India.

Whichever the Government is, be it Congress of CPIM, History of Kerala Police is always Islamophobic and Dalitphobic. But was the present CPIM government able to reduce the police atrocities or take disciplinary actions against the Officers? No, A big no is the only answer. Around 30 people are reported to be killed because of Kerala Police direct and indirect involvement. The list also includes the people who accused Police of the abetment of suicide. During the Anti NRC-CAA protests in Kerala, Muslims who gave the call for boycotting BJP’s campaign in support of NRC were arrested, Muslims who put up a banner saying that it was Godse who killed Gandhi was also arrested. Even during the time of Covid and Lockdown time, Kerala Police was granted excess power. Islamophobic Incident involving Kerala police were reported in Palakkad. In Palakkad, 2 Muslim youngsters were pepper-sprayed at private parts by Police officers and SI Sudeesh Kumar shouted at them, “You should not give birth to Muslims”. This tells us that there are elements of Islamophobia and Hindutva Conscience in Kerala even before and after Babri Masjid Demolition. When asked about Police atrocities during his tenure, Pinarayi Vijayan told that he won’t do anything that affects the Morales of Kerala Police. This means that Pinarayi won’t do anything against Right-Wing Police of his Government.

There is a saying that, there is nothing that time can’t heal. Be it time or Selective Amnesia, can it heal the wounds, wipe the tears, erase history, give rebirth to those murdered by Hindutva Fascism? Never forget & forgive the Murderers and Betrayers who directly and indirectly help Hindutva Fascism. Did the compensation in terms of money and employment give Justice to Sirajunnisa? Is there any decrease or an end in Police atrocities? What’s the difference in Police Raj under UDF & LDF government with those of Sangh Parivar Government’s Police? Are the Muslim & Dalit Community safe from the Right Wing Police who sees Muslims & Dalits through the same eyes of Sangh Parivar? Raman Srinivastav said he wanted dead bodies of Muslim Bastards. Yes, Muslims are bastards. It’s your Hindutva Khaki & Saffron oiled guns which killed their innocent fathers in Kashmir and other parts of countries, which made those kids bastards! Brahmanic Hindutvaadi Officers like Raman Srinivastav and Political parties which licks him will come in form of NRC and other Hindu Rashtra Policies to erase our existence and we must resist and smash Fascism.