THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: He is a living proof of the violent politics of Kannur. However, Poornachandran, 30, has no aversion to politics and has exercised his franchise in every election in Kerala. On Tuesday, he cast his vote at the Government Health Centre at Peroorkada which falls under the Vattiyoorkavu constituency in the capital district.
“I’ve voted in all elections held since I was eligible to vote. I do not dislike politics but hate the violence associated with it. Voting is my right and pride,” he told TNIE. Painful memories of the gruesome incident in 1998 still haunt him whenever he comes across news of political violence, said Poornachandran.
“I always visit Kannur with a heavy heart. I become speechless whenever someone reminds me of that incident,” he said. The incident took place in December 1998 when Poornachandran was eight years old. He and his elder brother were looking for scrap on the roadside at Thuvakkunnu at Panoor, an area infamous for CPM-RSS clashes, when Poornachandran found a small steel container. He picked it up. It was a bit heavy and the brothers couldn’t open it.
“We went to a scrap dealer in nearby Kallikandy and got a hammer. I held the container on the ground with my left hand and hit it twice with the hammer. The third time, there was a big explosion. I lay there in a pool of blood,” he recalled. The police later said the container was a crude bomb dumped presumably by some party workers. They did not say which party.Poornachandran lost his left palm and right eye in the accident. After six months of treatment, he moved to an orphanage run by Sai Gramam in Thiruvananthapuram.
After plus-II, he joined a Carnatic vocal degree course at Sri Swathi Thirunal College of Music. In 2012, then CM Oommen Chandy appointed him as LD clerk in the college. “Only lower-rung party workers and commoners get injured or killed in such incidents of violence. Leaders of all parties and their kin are safe. I wish all leaders would care for their workers and desist from violence,” he said.