Adarsh Kumar Aniyal with father Ambujakshan

What he tells through this video has been happening in the country for quite a long time, only that now people like Adarsh have come up to raise their voices through art. It is also interesting to note that such a strong art form of protest has come from Vypin in Ernakulam), the land of Sahodaran Ayyappan, the legendary anti-caste and reformation leader in Kerala.

‘Raven’ has a dark-skinned middle-aged man narrating the story of the missing of his son – ‘the son who was tall and lean with long red-coloured hair’ – at a time when sons gone missing have become common in the country. There is not a single point in the life of a Dalit that the video doesn’t touch – be it the colour of skin or bodily features, caste, politics, reservation, economic difference, fashion etc.

The sad and helpless father who complains about his missing son in the first scene soon turns to a strong and assertive person, bent on explaining why his son went missing. He recalls that his son was mocked for his physical features, for wearing good clothes, for his long coloured hair, for claiming reservation and receiving grants in school. Though he doesn’t explicitly mention who took away his son, he says that the investigation underway is for namesake only as ‘it is only my son who is missing and not the cow of kovilakam (manor of high caste)’. While he wears white clothes in the beginning, the father recalls that his son brought changes in his outlook and changes to black with sunglasses towards the end, vowing to grow his hair long and colour it red.

The story reminds of an incident that happened a few years ago in Thrissur district. A Dalit boy named Vinayakan, who had long coloured hair, was allegedly picked up by the police and brutally tortured. After release, the boy committed suicide reportedly due to the inhuman torture that he had to suffer. However, Adarsh, while talking to TwoCircles.Net, said that particular incident need not have been the first of its kind, “though that is the one we came to know.” He also recalled the infamous murder of Kevin Joseph, a Dalit Christian. Kevin and Neenu Chacko decided to get married against the wishes of Neenu’s family, which allegedly led to the murder of Kevin by Neenu’s brother and friends. Neenu stood firmly with Kevin’s family to get justice and the Kottayam Principal Sessions Court gave double life sentence for 10 found guilty in August 2019.

Ambujakshan, who acted in the video, also recalled Madhu, the tribal youth who was lynched to death for allegedly stealing.

Ambujakshan, who acts in the video is Adarsh’s father. He used to act in plays and perform ‘kathaprasangam’ (a performance including speech and songs) earlier. He expressed his happiness in being able to act in a project directed by his son, which, ‘only very few people get an opportunity for’.
“We should think for ourselves as to who we are. The scar inside ourselves should be erased to change what we experience outside. Change can’t be brought by laws alone, but rather we should change our outlook first. Art forms like this, along with literature etc help in giving this message to the people,” he said.
The veteran folklore artist stressed on the role of social media in bringing such art forms and protests to people/audience faster and easier in the modern world. Ambujakshan’s father Kumaran also was a renowned folklore artist, who was incidental in including the art form ‘Parichamuttu’ in school youth festivals.
The video also shows the statues of Mahatma Ayyankali, the renaissance leader who fought to uplift the lower castes in Kerala, and Dr BR Ambedkar. “We are talking for those marginalized in the name of caste, wealth, religion, politics etc, and so we cannot avoid these great leaders,” said Ambujakshan. The title of the video is ‘Raven’ which is now widely read as ‘Ravan’ too, the mythological Asura/Dravida king who fought against Sri Rama.

The resemblance of the video to the 2012 hip-hop video ‘Native Bapa’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opnMreZoRyQ) directed by Muhsin Parari is very evident. Having been influenced by the video released six years ago, Adarsh shared ‘Raven’ with Parari via friends even before meeting him in person. Parari and Zakariya Muhammed (director of ‘Sudani from Nigeria’) were among the first to share the video on Facebook.

A graduate in English literature, Adarsh used to do plays for kids and has worked as an assistant director in two films. He had worked earlier with Subrahmanian of Thousand Stories Production, who decided to associate with this work in production along with Pramod Vazhoor and Rajesh Nethaji. “This project would not have been fulfilled if Thousand Stories hadn’t taken this up,” recalled Adarsh.

With strong lyrics written by Adarsh, apt music by Bibin Asok, art direction of Vishnujith Ajith and exemplary performance by Ambujakshan, the video released on September 14, 2019, is already a hit on the social media. Encouraged by the success of the video, Adarsh vows to do more works like this. “It is important to tell stories. I told one now, and will tell more in future.”

Courtesy: Two Circles

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The protest demanding ‘Justice for Dr Payal Tadwi’ held at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College on May 31 was led by state general secretary Mahesh Thonnakkal.  Protest gatherings were held at the government medical colleges at Kozhikode, Thrissur and Manjeri on June 3.  The gatherings called to resist the atrocities against Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis in the educational institutions all over the country.  It also urged to frame and enact the Rohit Act, which can safeguard the students of the marginalized sections in the universities in the country.

Dr Payal Tadwi is a martyr of the racism getting strengthened in India, opined Shamseer Ibrahim, state president of the Fraternity Movement, in an article.  The article points towards the ‘cruel indifference on the part of the media in the country even days after the incident’.  While the national media are not bringing out the issue in a pressurizing way, such efforts are seen only from the part of certain social media groups.  ‘Why couldn’t her fellow students and the college authorities consider Payal with equanimity despite having all the academic qualifications and abilities?  Only on finding answer to this question, one can see the dangerous forms of racism in India that are casteism and Islamophobia.  Dr Payal has become the last link in the long list of names such as Rohit Vemula, Mudassir Kamran and Najeeb Ahmed etc,’ he adds in the article.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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When announced as the Congress candidate of southern Alathur, most had predicted the failure of Kozhikode-girl Ramya in the LDF bastion.  But people began to throng her election rallies, which brimmed with positive campaigning without any sort of maligning the opponents.  Ramya used her singing ability well in her campaigns, which was well-received in some quarters but brought the ire of some critics too.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPZdsnv1T_s)  Two main controversies that came up during her campaign are understood to have ultimately turned in Ramya’s favour.  Activist Deepa Nishant criticized Ramya for singing at the election campaigns, saying ‘the real issue should not be candidate’s singing, dancing talent or religion. It is not an Idea Star Singer or temple committee selection.’  Ramya reportedly responded that ‘I will sing and speak.  These are my weapons.  I ignore such criticisms.’   LDF Convenor A Vijayaraghavan made sexist remarks at her for visiting Muslim League leaders for blessings, which also turned as negative for the Left.  Considering the poor background of Ramya, her supporters used crowd-funding to finance her election campaign, and used the social media extensively.  There was also a stone-pelting attack on her in which Ramya was reportedly injured.  The endearing way in which Ramya approached the voters gained her a good support.

The Scheduled Castes’ reserved constituency of Alathur was formed in 2009, and Dr PK Biju of the CPI(M) won in the two Parliament elections held since in 2009 and 2014.  He was in the fray this time for a hat-trick victory but fell before the first-timer Ramya Haridas.  Biju had secured 46.84% votes in 2009 and 44.34% votes in 2014, with a clear margin over his opponents.  However, he could get only 36.8% votes in 2019 whereas Ramya bagged 52.4%.

Born to daily wage earner Haridas and Radha in the village of Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode district, Ramya Haridas grew up experiencing the difficulties of life.  She studied in the local government schools, and got to fame when she began to win prizes at the arts festivals in folk dance and songs etc.  Her mother being a local leader of the Mahila Congress, Ramya joined the KSU at the age of 13 and entered public life.  She has served the party in several positions ever since in the Youth Congress and other associated organisations etc.  She also worked with well-known Gandhian PV Rajagopal and his Ekta Parishad in different parts of the country.  She received the Nehru Yuva Kendra Award for public work in the Kozhikode district in 2007.  Ramya rose to prominence when she performed well in the talent hunt organized by Rahul Gandhi in 2011.  The young woman spoke at the national conference of the Youth Congress the next year. She was also made the secretary of the Youth Congress Kozhikode Parliament constituency. She is also one of the coordinators of the National Youth Congress.

Ramya entered the foray of electoral politics in the local self-government elections in 2015.  Winning in the first instance itself from the Poovattuparamb division, she became the Kunnamangalam Block Panchayat President at the age of 29.  Then came the Parliament elections and her candidature.  Ramya resigned as Panchayat President soon after the election was held in Kerala on April 23, announcing she was of the people of Alathur now.

The victory of Ramya Haridas is seen not only as that of the Congress and UDF but as that of Dalit women too, as she is the first in the category to enter the Parliament after Bhargavi Thankappan of the CPI who won from Adoor in 1971.

Courtesy: Two Circle

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