100-year-old says Kerala floods worse than 1924 deluge
Thiruvalla (Kerala), Aug 27 : A bishop now 100-years-old says the floods which have devastated Kerala are far worse than the one which choked the state way back in 1924.
The 1924 floods were not as horrific as the present one, says Philipose Mar Chrysostom, the senior most metropolitan of the Thiruvalla-headquartered Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church.
Ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala on May 29 this year, a total of 417 people have died and more than a million were forced to take shelter in relief centres following unprecedented destruction.
The 2018 floods have been described as the worst to hit Kerala after 1924. The bishop was born in 1918 and his house was on the bank of the Pampa river in Thiruvalla.
When the 1924 floods came, he recalls seeing the river in spate, washing away houses and domestic animals. Thiruvalla, the district headquarters of the now Pathanamthitta district, is located about 120 km form Thiruvananthapuram.
"In comparison, the current floods are much more devastating... I have painful memories of witnessing houses with helpless inhabitants and cattle being washed away in the Pampa almost a century ago," said the bishop.
"There were no relief camps and no one to prepare or deliver food to the homeless then. People huddled in groups in school or church buildings or temple grounds."
One day, his father, a Vicar, and his assistant took a small boat on a rescue mission. The boat capsized and his father fell into the river. He was saved by the assistant.
The bishop added that although more devastating in its magnitude, the present devastation had brought people together by breaking the barriers of creed, race and politics.
"This is a good sign... of the essence of humanity reaching out to one another."
Even though he is officially retired, the bishop remains active and leads an occasional prayer session.
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Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
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Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
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He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
