Kerala, which is already plagued by a variety of crimes involving individuals, extremist groups and criminal gangs, is facing yet another threat in the form of a shadowy Dalit outfit. This is the Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM), which the Kerala the police suspect is responsible for the recent murder of Sivaprasad, a resident of Varkkala.

The group is under the close the surveillance of the police after the gruesome murder of the middle-aged Sivaprasad, who was hacked to death while he was on his morning walk.

Another man was attacked in a similar way the same morning, but he survived.

The two Dalit Human Rights Movement activists arrested in this connection and believed to be key functionaries of the group – Ashokan, an advocate, and Das – have been remanded in judicial custody.

More activists of the DHRM have been held, but the police are yet to divulge their details.

According to Jacob Punnoose, Director-General of Police, though the police already knew of this outfit, they have to investigate whether the organisation has any terror connections.

Jacob Punnoose admitted that the murder of Sivaprasad and the violent surfacing of the group have created enormous panic among the people and that the police are taking it very seriously.

The police say they believe that the Dalit Human Rights Movement has a solid base in Varkkala, particularly among the many colonies there where Dalits reside.

Media reports quoted a man living in one of the Dalit colonies, where the DHRM is active, as saying that he was severely beaten up by a few men, including his brother, for having refused to join the outfit even as many of his close relatives had joined it.

Another man described the Dalit Human Rights Movement as “strange” in that the members of the organisation address each other in a “different style” even if they are of the same family. This man also termed the ideology of the DHRM as “odd” and said that he was keeping off the group.

The Kerala police suspect that the Dalit Human Rights Movement is a shadowy, extremist group that works systematically and clandestinely to make the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in Kerala militant.  Top officials in the police consider the violent deeds of the Dalit group as its attempt to show off its strength.

The Dalit Human Rights Movement, based in Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala, is believed to work as a well-disciplined and well-structured outfit. Its members wear black-shirt-and-blue-trousers uniform.

The outfit was registered in North Paravoor in 2007 as a human-rights organization, with Selvaraj, 25, as its chairman. While its operations in southern Kerala are headed by Das, hailing from Cherunniyoor, near Attingal, the operations in the north are led by a man called Shaji.

Police believe that the DHRM, which is relatively stronger in the south, now has a presence in about all the Dalit pockets in Kerala.

According to intelligence reports, taking advantage of the growing dissatisfaction among the Dalits, the Dalit Human Rights Movement has been operating silently for the last about two years in colonies in southern Kerala where the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes are in a majority. It was only of late that the group started coming to the fore and asserting itself, and, in the latest incident, in a very violent manner.

However, it is not yet known whether the DHRM has any connections with other extremist groups that are active in Kerala.

Photo: Shashi Tharoor, MoS, External Affairs

It all started when Shashi Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and an active Twitter user replied to a tweet from journalist Kanchan Gupta. The question from Kanchan Gupta was:

Tell us Minister, next time you travel to Kerala, will it be cattle class?

The question was posed at 11:57 PM, Sep 14. At 12:17 AM, Shashi Tharoor replied: absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows.

Here are links for the Twitter user pages of Shashi Tharoor and Kanchan Gupta.

Major hungama ensued, and media went to town with it. Many were truly offended by the reference to the economy class as cattle class. Many more pretended to be offended.

Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan looked suitably morose, announcing that Congress found the term “unacceptable”. She conceded that the term “cattle class” was commonly used, but “we find it unacceptable because thousands of Indians travel on ordinary class.”

It did not end there. Many politicians added their voice to Twittergate. The controversy became worse when it was reported by Indian Express that the chief aide to Shashi Tharoor, one Mr Jacob Joseph took it upon himself to prove how right his boss was. He retweeted several tweets from many of Tharoor’s Twitter followers, who felt that Tharoor did nothing wrong in using the phrase “cattle class” and felt that Congress party, and Indian politicians in general, were a humourless lot. All this while there was no comment from Tharoor.

Sensing the anger – possibly at the top levels of the Congress party – sundry politicians in the Congress too jumped ito the fray. Rajasthan’s chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that Shashi Tharoor should tender his resignation before being asked to do so by the party. Gehlot said that the statement made about people travelling in economy class as “unfortunate,” and that Tharoor should not only apologise but submit his resignation.

It was revealed today that Shashi Tharoor called up Sonia Gandhi and spoke to her about the issue. The actual content of the conversation was not revealed, however.

When Rahul Gandhi was asked by the media about his response to the “cattle class” he replied that the party has said whatever it had to say.

Meanwhile, Tharoor apologised on his Twitter page. His apology was sent in a series of tweets that went thus:

holy cows are NOT individuals but sacrosanct issues or principles that no one dares challenge. Wish critics wld look it up

i now realize i shldnt assume people will appreciate humour. &u shouldn’t give those who wld wilfully distort yr words an opportnty to do so

i’m told it sounds worse in Malayalam, esp out of context. To those hurt by the belief that my repeating the phrase showed contempt: sorry

it’s a silly expression but means no disrespect to economy travellers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle. Many have misunderstd

learned belatedly of fuss over my tweet replying to journo’s query whether i wld travel to Kerala in “cattle class”. His phrase which i rptd

But this does not seem to have satisfied the party. Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari refused to acknowledge the apology, and said that “action would be taken at the appropriate time.”

First, what is cattle class?

For English speakers in India, cattle class is not a new term. As long back as I can remember, the term cattle class was sued to refer to the economy class of airlines. The term originated because people were packed into the economy class seats with not enough leg room or shoulder room, it was crowded, and a far cry from the comfort of the Business Class or First class in airlines.

It is not meant to insult the travellers in the economy class in any way.

A direct translation is not helpful in this case. Remember the “mother of all battles” phrase uttered by Saddam Hussein? The English translation sounded bombastic and funny at the same time – but in the flowery language used in Iraq, it was perfectly normal. We can all pick out phrases in our vernacular languages in India, translate them into English – and see how offensive some of them would sound.

Cattle Class is a derogatory term alright – but it is directed towards the airlines, not the passengers. Tharoor’s audience in Twitter are largely exposed to the English language term. But it seems several of the newspapers an TV channels which played it up were not. If I were running a newspaper, I would be embarrassed to make a controversy out of it. I would play it down. Why? It just exposes my lack of comprehension in commonly used English language phrases.

Was Shashi Tharoor wise in tweeting “cattle class”?

Not at all. Tharoor had just been asked – in the name of austerity – to leave his five star accommodation, and move somewhere cheaper. At that time, he had moved out, but only after replying that he was paying his own bills in the five-star hotel.

That is perfectly fine, but not in India. Here you have a party putting up a show of austerity with much fanfare, and you are supposed to follow suit proclaiming your admiration for those ideals. Remember how they hated the sanctimonious guy in college? It works something like that. Also, there is the fact that both Sonia Gandhi traveled by economy class, while Rahul Gandhi travelled by train just a day before his tweet. This is the Congress we are talking about – and while Sonia Gandhi has been pretty ineffective in controlling the infighting in the party in states like Kerala or Punjab, she does not apparently appreciate such witty rebellions.

Or perhaps Sonia Gandhi does not have a problem with the tweet. But maintaining the apparent infallibility of the High Command has always been an axiom in the Congress, and the High Command has to somehow recover lost ground once it has been questioned.

The role of the media in Twittergate

Nothing to be proud of, frankly. Instead of playing down what they knew was a case of misunderstanding of the term, they went on and on. It was kept alive by the media probably because at the time, there was no worthwhile news item in the pipeline. They went around looking for quotes, and politicians can’t resist it when media asks them for quotes. Well aware that the TV audience include large numbers who do not speak English, they did not want to be caught defending the ‘elite’ and stuck to the safe option that Tharoor went over the line in using the term cattle class. What other option did they have?

Post-cattle class brouhaha, some advice for Congress, Tharoor and the media

Or forget the media. The media knows what it has done. It will do it again. Even politicians in India can be shamed and named by persistent media, but shaming the media is another matter altogether.

For Shashi Tharoor

You know what you should do. Do it. Keep it quiet on Twitter. You are a writer, but watch every word you say. You are not dealing with just the people who populate Twitter or the upper middle class. What you write will be watched, and just as you received a lot of kudos for being tech-savvy and sophisticated enough to make the upper classes think you are their man, there are many who resent that, think you are an outsider, and waiting for something to trip you up on. Which they did this time.

Use simple English. Read your tweets a few times before you publish them. Journalists (in those days when they actually got some training) were told to write in such a way that someone who has not passed his high school would be able to comprehend them. Goes for you too.

It is rare that a first-time MP makes it to the cabinet. Put it to good use. Thiruvananthapuram voted you into Parliament with an overwhelming majority, and were thrilled to see you being made a MoS. DO not ruin it all.

Neither your English language skills or tech literacy matters in the hurly burly of Indian politics.

Here, you are not allowed to joke, or be casual or flippant. Sit tight and grab on to that chair.

Oh, and about that aide of yours – Jacob Joseph – who has no idea about public relations and thinks that retweeting attacks on Congress – you need to  deal with them. That was serious immaturity.

For Congress

Learn how to douse a fire. Shashi Tharoor asked for this trouble, fine. But leaving every Congressman to bad-mouth him reflects badly on the entire party. Perhaps you think that it was better that Congress shows some anger instead of allowing BJP to capitalise on this. If that is it, it was smart. But nevertheless, there is a limit to it.

Probably Congress thinks – rightly – that the aam aadmi voted them to power, and they have to keep their sensibilities in mind. True, but after the initial drama, play it down. Deal with Shashi Tharoor in private.

There is a theory I have – the “holy cows” phrase, not the “cattle class” one, is what has pissed Congress off. COming a day after Sonia’s and Rahul’s budget travel, it sounded suspiciously like he was taking a potshot at them. He may not have been, and maybe was just referring to the holy cow of pretend-austerity. But that is not what it might sound like to ears ready to listen to any hint of a dig at the holy family!

Tharoor does not have it easy, though. He had to wade through controversies, some of which were his own creation – the mistakes of a political amateur, unused to the cut-and-parry of grasroots politics. However, he has come through pretty much unscathed.

For the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, there is a moderate wave in favour of the opposition UDF – Kerala’s counterpart to the UPA at the Centre. Te past few years of internal bickering within the ruling LDF and CPI(M) has seen to that. Tharoor is well-placed to reap the rewards now.

Thiruvanthapuram is not a plce that is exactly kind to people. There are jokes about Tharoor’s lack of fluency in Malayalam, but balancing that is the knowledge that he has very good qualifications not just to become an MP, but possibly a minister in the future UPA dispensation at the center. The possibility that a senior cabinet post would go to their MP in case the UPA wins is temptation alright.

Add to that, the large number of young voters apathetic towards either of the two politican fronts have found a messiah in Shashi Tharoor. His comfort and exposure to UN and diplomatic circles appeals to the educated voter, and his essential decency compared to the average politician comes through.

People may still vote for the LDF, but that would hardly be because of anyone believing their accusations that he is pro-Israel or a CIA agent. Kerala  has seen the Left calling even your average road-side tea shop owner a CIA agent at the slightest provocation. Party loyalties though run deep, and swinging the small amount of independent voters would be the key for Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram seat.

Not that all of this is enough. Kerala has been known to spring many a surprise, and we would not know till the final results are announced.

If Shashi Tharoor has played his game well, Kerala could finally have a minister they can look up to.