12 -year-old Vismaya's father Santhosh Kumar was killed in January
Highlights
- Vismaya's father Santhosh Kumar was killed in January
- Santhosh Kumar, an RSS worker, hacked allegedly by Left activists
- 4 BJP, 3 CPM activists killed in Kannur in the last eight months
Why did you kill my father, questions Vismaya, 12, in a video that has been widely shared, wordlessly communicating her powerful message through placards. Two months ago, her father, a BJP activist, was killed allegedly by Left workers in Kerala's Kannur.
Santhosh Kumar, 52, was hacked when he was alone at home in January - one in a series of political tit-for-tat murders in the city.
"My father wanted to fulfill my dreams. A night swept away all my dreams," says Vismaya, a Class 8 student, sharing that she wants to become an IPS or Indian Police Service officer to serve her village.
"His only mistake was he supported RSS and BJP. I see only darkness in my future. They murdered not just my dad but my dreams and future. I see only darkness, complete darkness. I have not yet (got the answer), why they killed my father."
Speaking to NDTV, Vismaya said she thought of doing the video so she could get help to achieve her dream. "What happened to me should not happen to anyone," she said.
"We made the video hoping that we would get assistance for our family, for my dreams of being a IPS officer. What happened to me should not happen to anyone else", Vismaya told NDTV. The video was shot and uploaded with assistance of a right wing regional channel.
The CPM has hit out at the video featuring a minor. "We can also show a lot of children who lost their fathers because they were killed by BJP/RSS activists. But I pity RSS for using small children for political advantages", AN Shamseer, Thalassery legislator said.
But the BJP has denied any role. "BJP has nothing to do with the video. But it's people who are taking things in their hand," said C Keshavan, a BJP state leader.
Kannur is the epicenter of political violence in Kerala, in which scores of activists from the RSS or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the BJP, and the Left, have been killed.
The police estimate that there have been more than 100 deaths since 1991 in Kannur, of them 42 activists of the ruling CPM and 41 of the BJP.
Since the left-led government came to power last year, four BJP activists and three CPM activists have been killed in Kannur.
Among them was Vismaya's father. Just after his murder, a video of the young girl participating in a quiz show became viral and drew strong emotions, with offers of financial help pouring in. It drove home the tragedy of families and children in the cycle of violence and killings.