A Dalit woman in Kerala has asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to kill her and her family after the LDF government took away the five-cent land allotted to her by the previous UDF government where construction of a house was underway.
The woman, Chithralekha, an autorickshaw driver has been an iconic figure in Kerala for working dalit women in the state since her long protest in 2005 demanding protection from social boycotting and caste-violence by CPI(M) workers in Kannur district.
Her life was featured in the Malayalam film, Papilio Buddha and recently she came to limelight again after Bollywood director Shekhar Kapur announced that he would soon be making a film on her. The story was sent to him by British film maker Fraser Scott, who was much fascinated by her.
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“Amazing Courage under Fire. This Is Chitralekha. Kerala’s first female Dalit Autorikshaw driver," Kapur had said on his Instagram post. "Being from a ‘Lower Caste’, when she tried to drive her rickshaw the local Union told she was not allowed. But she drove anyway. So they ripped up her Auto, set it in fire, ran over her (hospitalising her), made a media campaign accusing her of being a prostitute, and hired a hit man to kill her. But no matter their threats or violence, she never gave up. Setting up a tent outside the Government offices for 120 days till the Chief Minister awarded her damages and stated she has every right as a woman and Dalit to drive an Autorickshaw in Kerala.”
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Posting the pictures of the government order taking away her land on Facebook, Chithralekha said, “If you don’t want to let us live, Comrade Pinarayi should kill me and my family and eat our flesh.”
According to Malayalam media, after her long protest in front of the Kannur collectorate and the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, the then UDF government had allotted the five cent land to her in another village, away from the CPI(M) workers who used to harass her.
The UDF government had also promised to grant her Rs 5 lakh to build a house. However, the LDF government, when came to power, revoked this decision. MLA, KM Shaji and a Muslim League-affiliated organization had then extended financial assistance to build her house.
The revenue secretary in the order to take back Chithralekha’s land has said that the decision was taken because she already owned land in her own village. But, Chithralkeha questioned the claim saying that that land was allotted by the government to her grandmother and that remains in her name.
