KOZHIKODE: 51 years after the fake encounter that killed him in Thirunelli forest, govt decision to give Rs 50 lakh in compensation comes as closure for family — not for the amount but for the message. TNIE looks back on Varghese’s role in emancipating tribals of Wayanad and state machinery’s brutal face
Now a practising lawyer at Mananthavady court, A Varghese was three when he saw the most illustrious person of his Arikkad family for the first and last time -- Naxalite leader A Varghese or Comrade Varghese as he was called. The Naxalite leader is the elder brother of the advocate’s father (A Thomas) and when he met the ‘Valyappachan’ in 1970, there was no life in the body of the “saviour of Adivasis”. It was the funeral of Varghese, after he was shot dead by the state police at the age of 32 on February 18, 1970, in Thirunelli forest, as confessed by constable Ramachandran Nair after 28 long years.
After more than five decades, now the state government has decided to give Rs 50 lakh as compensation to Varghese’s four siblings. However, the family says that it is not compensation but a warning to the state. “Even if one rupee is the amount, we would wholeheartedly welcome it. For, it is a warning to the state which took the life of a man, who the state is supposed to protect,” said advocate Varghese.
There are several such Vargheses who were killed in suspicious encounters -- from Vythiri “encounter” to the shootout at Manjikkandy in Attappadi, he says.Comrade Varghese was the second son among the six children of Varkey-Rosa couple at Ozhukkan Moola near Vellamunda in Mananthavady.
Research centre planned
Advocate Varghese told TNIE that the `50 lakh is being planned to be used towards the activities of Varghese Memorial Trust, which was set up jointly by CPI (ML) Red Flag P C Unnichekkan faction and family members. A 70-cent plot was allocated to Varghese and the plan is to start a research centre there to document the tumultuous path tread by the downtrodden in Kerala society with a focus on Varghese’s activities, plus a museum.
“The details will be decided after a meeting of the trust. Varghese was instrumental in ending the bonded slavery system of tribals in Wayanad. Till then, the tribals had been sold to feudal landlords during the annual festival at Valliyoorkavu temple in Mananthavady. The movement also heralded a change in the remuneration received by tribals in exchange of their labour -- from rice and grains to rupees,” said Adv Varghese, who was formerly associated with CPI (ML) Red Flag.
After the revelation of Ramachandran Nair that he killed Varghese on the instruction of then DySP K Lakshmana in 1998, four siblings of Varghese -- A Joseph, Mariyakutty, A Thomas and Annamma -- moved a writ petition in the Kerala High Court for an impartial probe into the incident. “No compensation was demanded then. While ordering a CBI probe, the court had asked why the family was not asking for compensation if the state had killed Varghese,” said advocate Varghese.
A compensation petition was submitted in 2012 in the HC wherein the same was given to the state government as per the order of the court. Meanwhile, the CBI probe had found the second accused -- former IG Lakshmana -- guilty and the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. The first accused, Ramachandran Nair, died during trial and the third accused, ex-DGP P Vijayan (who was then SP), was let free under benefit of doubt. Four eyewitnesses -- Yogi, Karimban, Choman Mooppan and Prabhakara Warrier -- deposed in the court that they saw police taking away Varghese, which proved crucial in busting the police theory that the Naxalite leader was killed in an encounter.