KANNUR: Eramangalath Chitralekha, an auto driver from a dalit family of Edatt here, is a victim of CPM persecution for over a decade. The attacks started when they burnt her autorickshaw following differences of opinion with the union leaders in 2005. After a series of attacks, she had to flee from her home at Kattampally. "Even after years of persecution, the CPM is not satisfied with its vendetta. That is why now they are targeting the five-cent land where the construction of my home is midway," she told DC.
The UDF government had given her five cents of land to construct a home. Through a recent move, the LDF government decided to take back the land citing that she has another piece of land in her name. It also withdrew an order allotting Rs 5 lakh to her to construct the house. The Congress and the BJP have rallied behind her.
Chitralekha said that the CPM men were now trying to take away the land which she had received during the UDF regime. "It is a shame for the CPM and its class and mass organisations to hunt down a dalit woman for more than a decade," she said. The reason for the present CPM ire against her might be the attempt by British scriptwriter Fraser Scott, who visited her recently, to shoot a film based on her life and struggles. "I cannot see any other reason for the series of actions by the party against me recently," she said.
Chitralekha, who had bought the autorickshaw by pledging the land provided by her grandmother, felt that she was being oppressed because she was a woman and a dalit. She lives with her husband Sreeshanth, grandmother Narayani and children Manu and Megha. A host of UDF leaders, including K .Sudhakaran, K.M. Shaji MLA and Satheesan Pacheni, and BJP leader Valsan Thillankery visited Chitralekha's house on Saturday. KPCC president M.M. Hassan may go thereon Sunday.
