Puthussery and parts of Palakkad municipality, have for years been known for their political polarisation. In several pockets, allegiance to either the CPI(M) or the RSS is so rigid that even physical entry is informally restricted.
Published Dec 22, 2025 | 10:30 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 22, 2025 | 10:30 PM
The attack on a Christmas carol group comprising children in Surabhi Nagar, Puthussery, in Palakkad district last night was not an isolated or spontaneous act of intolerance.
Synopsis: The arrest of a 24-year-old RSS worker for allegedly attacking a group of children singing Christmas carols in Kerala’s Palakkad district has once again drawn attention to the region’s long and bitter CPI(M)-RSS rivalry. CPI(M) leaders in the Puthussery area committee alleged that BJP-RSS activists were deliberately attempting to disrupt communal harmony by targeting children during a religious celebration. The BJP leadership, however, rejected the allegations.
On the night of Sunday, 21 December, a group of children aged between 10 and 15 years were moving from house to house in Surabhinagar, in Kerala’s Palakkad district, singing Christmas carols. They carried a small band set, including a drum bearing the letters “CPM”.
The children had borrowed it from a nearby CPI(M) party office for their performances. It soon caught the eye of a 24-year-old resident of Kalandithara, who stopped the group, questioned them about it, and then allegedly went on to break the band set.
Frightened, the children fled the spot, leaving their instruments behind.
The man, identified as Ashwin Raj, was soon arrested by the Kasaba police and booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 192 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and Section 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).
Police also noted that Ashwin Raj is already an accused under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA).
The incident has triggered widespread concern over the safety of children. At the same time, it has brought to the fore a decades-long history of reprisals, fear, and territoriality that has defined parts of the industrial belt.
Puthussery and its surrounding areas, including Kanjikode and parts of Palakkad municipality, have for years been known for their political polarisation. In several pockets, allegiance to either the CPI(M) or the RSS is so rigid that even physical entry is informally restricted.
Although RSS functionaries were reluctant to comment, multiple sources within the district told South First that Raj is an active member of the Sangh.
Sunday’s incident has revived memories of similar episodes reported from the district in the past, including instances in which Christmas cribs were allegedly vandalised.
At the time, Thrissur Orthodox Church Bishop Yuhanon Mar Meletius had sharply criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Christmas meeting with bishops in Delhi, calling it a “drama”.
Senior Congress leader Palazhy Udayakumar, who hails from Puthussery, told South First that the latest incident cannot be reduced to a mere objection against Christmas carols.
The area is “very infamous for CPI(M)-RSS rage,” he told South First. The rivalry, he added, has been sustained through cycles of retaliation and counter-retaliation for more than 25 years.
“This revenge and rage has a long history here. In certain pockets, RSS has dominance; in others, CPI(M). Entry itself becomes an issue. The anger is always simmering. It doesn’t take much for it to explode,” he said.
One of the darkest chapters in this history was the murder of a 24-year-old RSS worker on 1 December 2010. The victim, Ratheesh, was brutally stabbed to death while travelling on a bus from Kanjikode to Palakkad.
A four-member gang affiliated with the CPI(M) stopped the bus, threatened passengers, and attacked Ratheesh inside the vehicle. Police later indicated that the killing was in retaliation for an earlier assault on a CPI(M) worker in Puthussery on 23 November that year.
That murder, still vivid in local memory, hardened political identities and normalised violence as a form of response. For many residents, the fear never fully receded.
CPI(M) leaders in the Puthussery area committee alleged that BJP-RSS activists were deliberately attempting to disrupt communal harmony by targeting a group of children during a religious celebration. They described the act as intimidation rather than a spontaneous altercation.
The BJP leadership, however, rejected the allegations, calling them baseless and politically motivated.
BJP Palakkad district president KM Haridas told South First that the controversy was being manufactured to gain national attention.
He said the BJP has been receiving strong minority support in the Palakkad and Malampuzha regions and rejected claims that the party or the RSS opposes Christmas celebrations.
“BJP organises Christmas programmes, including carol singing, from the Palakkad district office to the municipal stand. In Kerala, everyone celebrates Christmas, and the BJP has never opposed it. Our minority morcha is also largely led by Christian leaders,” he said.
On previous incidents and the arrest of a youth, Haridas said he would comment after obtaining more details.
Bishop Meletius pointed to what he described as a glaring contradiction. While bishops were honoured at a high-profile event in the national capital, Christmas cribs were being destroyed in Kerala.
He accused the BJP and the central government of hypocrisy, stating that individuals associated with the same political party were involved in acts that hurt Christian sentiments on the ground.
In recent years, the party has made visible efforts to connect with Christians through symbolic gestures, meetings with church leaders, and public celebrations of Christian festivals.
This year as well, the chief guest at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India’s Christmas celebrations was Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, a former RSS leader from Tamil Nadu.
However, repeated incidents like the Puthussery carol attack have undermined these efforts.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
