50 years on, Emergency victims in Kerala await official recognition
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A long 50 years after what's termed the dark age of Indian democracy, thousands of Emergency victims in Kerala are yet to be officially recognised. As many as 13 states have accorded them Emergency victims' status, providing them monthly pensions, with Odisha being the latest to announce it this January. Despite Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself being a victim, the state government has curiously been unfavourable towards the demand. Ironically, in a first, the CPM plans to observe an anti-Emergency day on June 25 this year on the 50th anniversary of Emergency.
Though there are no official data available, it has been estimated that currently around 5,000 people including those arrested or who took part in protests during the 1975 regime, are alive today in Kerala. On its 50th anniversary, the victims continue to knock at the doors of the state government as well as the Centre for acknowledgement of their status.
The Emergency Prisoners Coordination Committee had approached both the CM and CPM general secretary M A Baby — another emergency victim — a few weeks ago with their long-standing demand. The government, however, turned down their request, citing a 2019 HC order that had then referred the matter to the Union government.
The EPCC had also long wanted the history of Emergency and the resistance it faced, to be made part of school curriculum, with the Emergency torture camp at Sasthamangalam as a memorial.
'Shouldn't the younger generations know that India underwent a dark age for democracy, not long ago? Having resisted it, the Left has an added responsibility to consider these requests. Several other state governments have accorded the victims such a status; why then can't Kerala accord us political prisoner status?' asks P C Unnichekkkan of the EPCC. On the 50th anniversary, the EPCC plans to hold a dharna raising these demands, chips in Dhanuvachapuram Sukumaran of EPCC.
It was Punjab's Akali Dal government, which first recognised these prisoners as secondary freedom fighters in 1980 and provided them pension. Later many states followed suit, with the Odisha government being the latest to provide monthly pension of Rs 20,000 to those imprisoned during Emergency.
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