Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
he would never vote for a candidate from one of Kerala's Communist
parties: In 1959 he had been recruited by a Catholic priest to protest the
reforms the Communists (who then held power in the state) were pro-
posing to the educational system. These reforms included giving the state
more authority to appoint and pay teachers, which disgruntled many in
the Syrian Christian private-
school sector. Conflicts over school reform
were part of the unrest that led to the dissolution of the state government
and the imposition of presidential rule, as I outlined in chapter 3. During
one violent protest, this farmer was jailed for ten days, a time during
which his father passed away. Since then, he has never forgiven the Com-
munist parties of India, which he also claimed made fun of the Pope, the
leader of the Catholic Church.47
Many members of Kerala's Syrian Christian community share such
feelings.48 Although many studies confirm that several Communist-led
reforms played a significant role in the high literacy rates and standard of
living in Kerala, several Christian leaders repudiate this information. Fa-
ther Peringarapillil, for example, the priest active in INFA M and Indocert,
explicitly atributes the high educational achievements of Kerala's com-
munities to Jesus Christ and the early missionary activities of the Church
in Southern Kerala.49 “I only follow Jesus,” he insisted, and he grumbled
that many organizations in Kerala commited to education, including the
KSSP, had become co-opted by members of the Communist parties.
Peringarapillil's impassioned feelings reflect both the influence the
Syrian Catholic Church has had in many rural farming areas and the deep
commitment of these communities to their religious institutions. Schol-
ars have documented that those who identify as Syrian Christian tend
not to vote for Communist candidates in Kerala's elections because of the
later's stance on various policy maters, including mandating that private
Catholic schools accept state-regulated appointments of teachers and the
cap on the size of landholdings after land reforms.50
The combination of their religious commitments and their familial
histories in rural Wayanad has made many in these communities indiffer-
ent and even antagonistic toward the organic farming policy, which was
originally spearheaded by the LDF government. Adding to their antipa-
thy has been that their own involvement in organic agriculture has been
