ASHAMED OF BEING ADDRESSED A MALAYALI: Mr. Madhu, Your death is the Reason
Stephen Kachappilly Capuchin
First time in the last
thirty-five years of my life, I felt ashamed and disgraceful of being addressed
to be a Malayali or Keralite. How better to hide myself to an unknown abode than
in a place which is being transformed to be a notorious home of habitual
butchery in the name of religion, politics and culture. Surely not the state of
Kerala is the first and only place of such activates in our country. But, such
occurrence is never witnessed before, and not fitting with the superb title
‘God’s own country [ or God zone country, in both cases, there can be questions like, which God? which zone? the name of God is unknown, so also the zone].’ This time our social
activists targeted a poor, Mr. Madhu a thirty-year old Adivasi youth [In the southern context, the word ‘adivasi’ is a discriminatory and embarrassing
usage. However, I use this word to reveal the kind of rank deposited on a man by
his society. He was still down the status of a tribal. Madhu represents an
original aborigine clan and is right to be called an adivasi], son of a
poor widow Mrs. Malli.[1] Yesterday, he was accused
of stealing [sorry to use the word stealing] rice from a grocery shop which
might worth rupees two hundred Indian buds. However, we should analyze that the
accused was not a habitual thief and never caught before. Interestingly, he was
accessed and accountable only to the shop keeper alone, not to the general
public. He was not accountable to others because he had never climbed on the
table of double-dealing to develop a business empire of his own through
stealing big currencies of common citizens. He had never aimed profits out of his
action of stealing. But only wanted to survive for a day or more from the
situation of poverty to a joyful man of a filled stomach. Oh slaughters, why
have you not recognized this? Have you ever confirmed with him that he had
enough food to eat in the past few days?
We should definitely interrogate with hard and tough consciousness to
give answers to such brutalities in our country. How can Madhu’s action become
a theft, when financial confronters like Nirav Modi (11000+ crore),[2]
Vijay Mallya (9000+ crore),[3]
Lalit Modi the previous IPL chairman and crorepadhi
(in 16 alleged forex violation cases amounting to an estimated 1700+ crore)[4]
are not treated like burglars? Why only Mr. Madhu became a thief? Is it because
he stole rice worth of two hundred rupees? Should he be killed for that?
Because he was black and Adivasi he was killed? Because he was not a well-dressed
financial defaulter, like any other big iconic business emperors? Because the
people are crazy after exercising killing attitude in Kerala with selfie culture? This
is the most dangerous segregation based on the look, dress, place and language.
No many are dare to raise slogans against them. If at all it is done, it may be
for one or wo days. Rarely, there are social sensible groups to fight against
injustice. In a world of ‘this is not my business’ many impose silence upon
them and agree with any atrocities. Compromising with the notorious manipulators,
we are even ready to pay to the banks the debts made by them with our sweat and
blood through levies imposed on us by our rulers. Still, we have no complaints
but pretend to be happy with their never actualized fake offers. Let us be the people
of positive reactions, like Mother Teresia against poverty of people, Martin
Luther King against atrocities of whites and Gandhiji against injustices. 
To what shall we compare
this attitude with? – this is neither animality nor bestiality. This is beyond
them. We should not depreciate the self-trained and well-cultured animals,
comparing them with a wrongly formed devilish activities of a self-seeking age
group of this epoch in God’s own country. Where are the harthal propagators? Where are the slogans broadcasters? Where are
the banner spreaders? Many of your silence speak that you are not interested in
such initiates where you cannot bargain and make a big profitable deal. Sorry
Mr. Madhu you had no one to speak for, when you were assassinated. We cannot consider
you like a thief. Absolutely, you were not. But then, you were not cunningly intelligent
like people in the cities. Otherwise, you would have still been alive, if you
could do this – a steal for the survival – in a well-dressed suit. You could
have been alive and forgiven if you had loaned and not redeposited a hung sum
of money from any bank for work-related tenacities. A good man was killed
because he was acquitted but conventional and unpretentious but deserted. You
have represented the condition of a common man today. Unlike the polished
teachers in the city, you were not skilled and educated to steal fashionably by
the traditional Adivasi tutors. 
What motivates our youth
to make mockery out of a person who is beaten to death by a mob. Is there
anything wrong in our education polices in which morality is dealt as a last
period subject? Later, these students will turn out to be engineers with no
heart, medical practioners with no sense of belonging and priests and nuns
with no sense of God-fearing. They can never be a decent person of righteousness,
friendship and synchronization. This is what makes a vast sea of difference in
the past generation [of course not all people are same]. Young guys, don’t take
selfie if there comes a situation
where your own sister is being raped in the public. Don’t take selfie when your brother is being caught
for theft, though no fault of his own. Don’t take selfie with the one who breaks open your door to charge against you
physically for social, religious or political motives. Those photos you take
are not selfies, but an expression of
selfishness in elegance. No helping hands are raised, but hands are raised to
take selfie, with a man who takes his
last breath. The essence of priesthood and its values doesn’t allow me to
comment at them saying ‘go to a
hidden area of netherworld.’ Alarmingly, this is a time to think about
the kind of generation we are moulding for the future. “The cruelty of the
assailants who took a selfie after tying his hands and ‘legs, before killing
him is chilling. Such tenancies should be nipped in the bud” says M.B. Rajesh,
the M.P from the constituency of Palakkad. Noted writer and activist Sara
Joseph took to Facebook to write “this is a dangerous face of the Malayali
people. I am scared realizing that this is the attitude of the rich towards
starvation and poverty…I feel ashamed of those parents who teach their children
to eat in excess and drink at five-star hotels. What he stole is rice. The
reason for that was hunger. Where are the gods? 
It is hard to comprehend
why should we promote such a philosophy of slaughter-culture at the expense of
a great state of God’s own country. We should rather have the courage to stand
against the white-washed thieves instead of elevating them to the center of
media hardly for a few days. Mr. Madhu, you missed your loved mum, and your dark
mum missed you forever. Like any other incidents in the past, your fate will become an ever-buried history soon. Only, you lost
your life and you and your mother are the loosers. Unlike in the forests the city people will disremember
you, because there is a diverse sickness of forgetfulness in the cities. I
don’t know your religion, so also your faith. However, I know that you were a
human person living in the forest of Attapadi. Hence, I could perceive the same
face of suffering Jesus in you, a son of man in the Contemporary New Testament. I could see a the ONE who had
forgiven his enemies. In the season of lent, the death of same Jesus is being
enacted in your murder. Mr. Madhu Rest in Peace! 
Ashamed!!!
[1] what he stole is rice. the reason, hunger; shock over kerala adivasi
man's death, https://www.
thenewsminute.com/article/what-he-stole-rice-reason-hunger-shock-over-kerala-adivasi-man-s-death-76911,
accessed on Feb. 24, 2018.
[2] Nirav Modi fraud case and India's bank
debt crisis, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43123337, accessed on
Feb, 24, 2018.
[3] Here's a timeline of wilful defaulters
vijay mallya's 9000 crore loan default case, https://www. India times.com
/news/here-s-a-timeline-of-wilful-defaulter-vijay-mallya-s-rs-9-000-crore-loan-default-case-275925.html,
accessed on Feb, 24, 2018.
[4] Lalit Modi
to be put on notice for Rs 1,700 crore IPL scam, https://www.deccanchronicl
e.com/150616/nation-current-affairs/article/lalit-modi-be-put-notice-rs-1700-crore-ipl-scam,
accessed on Feb, 24, 2018.
thanks for the text. many have the same feelings. I agree with your opinion and outrage. still I have a request: please don't address him as 'adivasi'. he is just one like you and me. the word 'adivasi' is discriminatory.
ReplyDeleteThank you Fr. GF. I agree with you fully on the point that you have mentioned here. Accordingly, I have updated the above text. I had also a chat with a priest from the tribal background, concerning the term ''adivasi'' which is used here. He could find no mistake there. However, i was suggested that the word adivasi stands for the real aborigine than a tribal. Madhu lived in a cave with his mother, like any other aborigines.
ReplyDeletesurely, in the southern context the word ‘adivasi’ is a discriminatory and embarrassing usage. However, I use this word to reveal the kind of rank deposited on a man by his society. He was still down the status of a tribal. Madhu represents an original aborigine clan and is right to be called an adivasi. He was more than a tribal.