Kilvenmani massacre

Raised fist carried as part of the 2014 inauguration of the Keezhvenmani martyrs memorial

The Kilvenmani massacre (or Keezhvenmani massacre) was an incident in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu on 25 December 1968^[1] in which a group of around 44 striking Dalit (untouchable) village labourers were murdered by a gang, allegedly sent by their landlords.^[2]

It became a notable event in left wing political campaigns of the time and in Dravidianist ideology. The incident helped to initiate large-scale changes in the local rural economy, engendering a massive redistribution of land in the region.^[3][4]

Massacre

The incident occurred when the landless peasants were influenced by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to organise themselves into a campaign for higher wages following the increase in agricultural production as the result of Green revolution in India.^[5][6] The lands were controlled by powerful families, while the labourers were from a Dalit community. In 1968, the agricultural labourers of unified Tanjore district formed a union seeking better working conditions and higher wages.^[4] To mark their union the workers hoisted red flags in their villages, irking their landlords. The landlords formed a separate union with yellow flags and started laying off workers belonging to the Communist unions.

This led to tensions and finally a boycott by all labourers. The peasants withheld part of the harvest as a negotiating tactic.^[7] The Paddy Producers Association, representing the local landlords, organised external labourers to continue the harvest. Matters became fraught when a local shopkeeper who supported the protesters was kidnapped by supporters of the landlords and beaten up. Protesters attacked the kidnappers, forcing them to release their hostage. In the clash, one of the landlords' agents was killed.^[8]

Following this, a large gang arrived at the Kizhavenmani village in Eastern Thanjavur driving police lorries. They cut off exits from the village and started shooting at villagers, mortally wounding two of them. Villagers took refuge in a hut, but the attackers surrounded it and set fire to it, burning them to death.^[2][9] Six people escaped, but two were thrown back into the fire. Around 44 were killed which included 5 men, 16 women and 23 children.^[4]

In the subsequent trial, the landlords were convicted of involvement in the event. Ten of them were sentenced to 10 years in jail. However, an appeal court overturned the conviction.^[10] Irinjur Gopalakrishnan Naidu, leader of the Paddy Producers Association, was accused of being behind the massacre. He too was eventually acquitted, but was murdered in a revenge attack in 1980.^[7]

Aftermath

The massacre led to widespread demand for changes in land ownership and to attitudes regarding caste. Gandhian reformer Krishnammal Jagannathan and her husband led a series of non-violent demonstrations, arguing for the redistribution of land owned by the local Hindu temple and Trust lands in Valivalam to members of the Dalit caste. The couple also founded an organisation to promote their aims. Krishnammal Jeganathan later said, on the eve of a commemoration of the massacre, "I could not sleep last night, and the sight of the violence feels fresh in my mind - fresh blood of a butchered child, and charred bodies of women and children, who had taken refuge in a hut".^[3]

Feminist activists played a significant role in making the massacre well known. Six years after the killings the first state conference of the Democratic Women's Association was held in Kizhavenmani.^[11] Mythili Sivaraman helped to publicize the atrocities through her articles and essays. A collection of her writings about the incident was released as a book named Haunted by Fire.^[12]

Commemoration

The opening of the new memorial

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) organises an annual "Venmani Martyrs Day" to commemorate the massacre. A memorial was erected by the party in the form of a black granite monolith carved with the names of the forty-four victims, including fourteen victims from one family. It is topped with the hammer and sickle of the CPI(M). A plantain bud "carved out of monolithic red granite mounted on a platform serves as a memory of the dead".^[3] Other political groups have also participated in the commemorations.^[7] The Dalit political party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi have objected to Communist control of the event. Its district secretary S. Vivekanandam said, "We also want to pay tributes to the martyrs. But the CPM does not allow us to arrange for any programmes during the anniversary saying that only their party stood in support of the farmers of Keezhvenmani. They also said that they had got the place of massacre registered in their party's name. It is unacceptable that a single party claims ownership of the historical place".^[7]

In 2006, the CPI(M) announced that it would begin the construction of a much larger memorial (referred to as "mani mandapam"). In 2014, the partially completed new memorial was inaugurated by the party. It comprises 44 granite pillars, representing each of the victims, surrounding a large building functioning as a museum and centre of commemoration.^[4]

Books and films

• The Incident became the main background subject in the 1977 Sahitya Akademi winning novel Kurudhippunal, by Indira Parthasarathy.^[13]
• The 1983 film Kan Sivanthal Man Sivakkum was based on Parthasarathy's novel.^[13]
• The massacre was the main subject of the 1997 Tamil language movie Aravindhan starring Sarath Kumar, Parthiban and Nagma.
• In a 2006 documentary film, Ramiahvin Kudisai (The Hut of Ramiah) in Chennai, survivors told their stories.
• The 2014 novel The Gypsy Goddess by Meena Kandasamy is based on this incident.^[14]

List of victims

References

Further reading

• Hugo Gorringe, "Which is Violence? Reflections on Collective Violence and Dalit Movements in South India", Social Movement Studies, Volume 5, Number 2 / September 2006, pp. 117–136

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kizhavenmani Memorial (Kilvenmani massacre).

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