Teacher's Killing; All in the Name of a Textbook

A schoolteacher in Kerala has been allegedly killed by political activists who were protesting against the Marxist government's education policies. A gruesome act has been performed.

A protest in the name of protecting religious pluralism as opposed to secularism has led to the brutal killing of James Augustine, who was allegedly kicked or trampled by the protesting Muslim Youth League activists in the southern district of Malappuram. And more pathetic is the way the politicians, the opposition political parties, reacted to the tragic incident.

The Congress, which is the second largest party in Kerala, along with its ally, the Indian Union Muslim league, are trying to portray the death as natural one. They said that Augustine had no major injuries and alleged that the Marxists were trying to take mileage of the situation.

Meanwhile, the ruling Marxist government had said that Augustine was a martyr of the unscrupulous strike. They blamed the Muslim league activists and also the Kerala Students Union (students wing of the Congress party) of unleashing terror in the state in the name of a book when the government had already made it clear to revise the book.

Whatever the opposition and the ruling may say or allege each other, the question here is something different. Both the Ruling and the Opposition had debated in the state Assembly for hours on the real cause of the teacher's death but they did not indulge into the social aspect of the gruesome murder.

It is not just the killing of a teacher, but it shows us how the political scene in Kerala is changing. The political parties are trying to create fear through crimes, which is not good for the state. Is it that Kerala, which has a history of peace, giving way to treacherous political activities? It is something that Kerala has to divulge into.

The politicians, who are supposed to be with the people, are trying to shatter the peace in the society. For petty political gains, the politicians and the political parties do any kind of vulgarity and not ponder over the consequences of their acts on the society. They even do not think that they survive because of the people and their acts are condemnable.

The Opposition parties and religious organisations had been opposing the Class VII textbook, alleging it propagated atheism and communist ideology among students. The protest is still going on even though the Marxist Government had decided to revise the textbook. The protestors want the complete withdrawal of the textbook.