KOZHIKODE: “I am hungry, is that why you are beating me”, asks Sathosh Keezhatoor, noted actor, who staged a solo traveling drama in the areas between Palayam Bus stand to SK Pottekkad statue at SM Street. He was acting as the tribal youth at Attapady who was brutally killed by a mob on Thursday for stealing a few food items from local provision stores. Police said the youth, 27-year-old Madhu, was severely beaten by a group of people in a forest in Kerala’s Palakkad district after he was allegedly found stealing. He was then handed over to the police. But Madhu died on his way to hospital, said police.
Mr Santhosh chose the mode of solo drama to express his anger at this brutal killing. Santhosh climbed every bus in the Palayam stand and walked through the lanes of the city, asking the public why this young man was killed for no reason, through his drama. “I don’t have a caste, religion and politics, people came and conquered my forest and snatched my place to live. Is stealing a few rice grains to assuage my hunger a bigger crime than stealing my place, my people and everything”, he asks, while enacting the life of Madhu.
“Visuals circulating on social media show locals attacking Madhu, and people taking selfies and posting it, and that is the most annoying factor of the whole incident. All those who worked behind it and all those who have celebrated it through social media should be brought to justice. All have the right to live and so did Madhu. His community or his caste or religion did not stop him from his right to live here,” he said. “Let’s all shout or raise a voice against this brutal killing,” he added.
“One of my favorite poets said, I resign from Kerala”, said VR Sudheesh, noted writer who came to the spot in solidarity for the protest staged by Santhosh. “The incident clearly states that Kerala is no more a worthy place to live. The youth just stole a few food grains and killing him for that was brutal. If serious action is not taken, we won’t be able to live here anymore. A situation has come, where anyone can kill anyone else,” he added.
