KOCHI: The Kottayam unit of the LDF has come out with a pamphlet claiming ‘innocence’ in the recent issues with SNDP Yogam, as if the Front smelled blood in the political stance adopted by the latter.
The pamphlet titled ‘Reject False Propaganda and Elect LDF Candidates’, in the name of the LDF district convener, was distributed in the district on Sunday, in areas that are strongholds of the Ezhava community. The pamphlet elaborates only on issues related to the CPM and the SNDP Yogam. The four-page pamphlet states that some caste forces were bent on defeating the CPM in the local body elections, without naming the SNDP Yogam. It repeatedly states that there was no attempt from the part of the CPM to defame Sree Narayana Guru, especially in the controversial ‘tableau’ incident in Kannur.
The topics discussed in detail in the pamphlet include bribery in teachers’ appointment in colleges; mystery over the death of Swami Sastheekandanda; truth behind the alleged defamation of Guru; community organisations and politics. The notice says that the hardcore campaigning being done using the caste factor was illegal.
The second part of the notice is an account of the things the CPM has done in favour of the Ezhava community, including the reservation policy introduced by the EMS Ministry in 1957. It states that the CPM’s stance in the reservation issue is in favour of the Ezhava community.
Further, the notice alleges that the BJP is trying to bring back ‘chaturvarnya’, the caste-based social structure that would be detrimental to Society. It clarifies that the CPM’s policy is that communities that receive reservation, including the SC and ST, should continue to get it. “The economically backward families in the forward communities should also get the benefit of reservation,” it says.
However, in many houses the local leaders who distributed the notice apologised that they were forced to bring out ‘such a notice for the first time.’