Thread by @karma_yogii

Kilvenmani massacre
The Horrific Christmas Night of 1968
The double face of DMK and how Communist use poor people to fulfill their agenda
🕉️THREAD🙏
The Kilvenmani massacre was an incident in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu on 25 December 1968,

in which a group of around 44 people, the families of village labourers, were murdered by a gang, allegedly led by their landlords. It became a notable event in left wing political campaigns of the time and in Dravidianist ideology.

Background-
Agricultural lands were controlled by powerful families, while the labourers were from a poor community. In 1968, the agricultural labourers of unified Tanjore district formed a union after the landless peasants were influenced by the

CPI(M) organise themselves into a campaign for higher wages following the increase in agricultural production as the result of Green revolution in India.

To mark their union the workers hoisted red flags in their villages, irking their landlords. The landlords formed a separate union with yellow flags and started laying off workers belonging to the Communist unions.

This led to tensions and finally a work strike by all labourers. The peasants withheld part of the harvest as a negotiating tactic. Matters became fraught when a local shopkeeper who supported the protesters was kidnapped by supporters of the landlords and beaten up.

Protesters attacked the kidnappers, forcing them to release their hostage. In the clash, one of the landlords' agents was killed.

Massacre on Christmas night -
On 25th December 1968, the landlords and their henchmen came in Police lorries and surrounded the hutments and shot at the labourers, mortally wounding two of them.

Labourers and their families could only throw stones to protect themselves or flee from the spot. Many of the women and children, and some old men, took refuge in a hut that But the attackers surrounded it and set fire to it, burning them to death.

Post this heinous crime, attackers went straight to the police station, demanded protection against reprisals and got it.

Double face of DMK - the ruling party was DMK,
which is a Dravidian party, adhering to the democratic and social justice principles of Annadurai and Periyar.
the then CM C. Annadurai, sent two of his Ministers M Karunanidhi and S. Madhavan  to condolences and promised action.

In the subsequent trial, the 10 landlords were sentenced to 10 years in jail in 1970. However, the Madras High Court acquitted the landlord in 1975, DMK leader was CM at the time.

In its judgment, the court said: "The rich landlords could not be expected to commit such violent crimes and would normally hire others to do while keeping themselves in the background."

Narrative buliding of Communist -
CPI used this massacre to promote their narrative as the attack of upper caste (Aryan) on the dalit(Dravidian). The Communist Party of India (Marxist) organises an annual "Venmani Martyrs Day" to commemorate the massacre.

The massacre led to widespread demand for changes in land ownership and to attitudes regarding caste. Arguing for the redistribution of land owned by the local Hindu temple and Trust lands in Valivalam to members of the Dalit caste.

Foundation stone for memorial was laid by Jyoti Basu in 1969 when he was Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal, (who was responsible for Marichjhapi Massacre of 1979)

The Dalit political party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi have objected to Communist control of the event. Its district secretary S. Vivekanandam said, "We also want to pay tributes to the martyrs. But the CPM does not allow us to arrange for any programmes .

In 2014, the partially completed new memorial was inaugurated by the party. It comprises 44 granite pillars, representing each of the victims, surrounding a large building functioning as a museum and centre of commemoration.

The 2019 film Asuran starring Dhanush has references and similarity to such an incident of burning huts of Dalit community.