The Left Democratic Front (LDF)-sponsored dawn-to-dusk Kerala-wide hartal on Saturday in protest against the alleged assault on its legislators inside the Assembly and the police action on its cadres in the capital on Friday was total and marked by stray incidents of violence.
Normal life was crippled as shops and commercial establishments remained closed and KSRTC and private buses kept off the roads, though students and government employees were spared an ordeal since it was a second Saturday. Roads were deserted, and tourists and commuters stranded at bus stations and railway stations. Work on the Kochi metro came to a halt.
Isolated incidents of stone throwing were reported from several places. Police were deployed in strength in all districts to prevent any untoward incident. CBSE examinations were held as per schedule, but students had a tough time reaching the centres. Activists of the LDF staged protest marches at district headquarters. ‘
The DCC office in Palakkad was attacked in the wee hours of Saturday. Hartal supporters blocked the Rural SP’s vehicle on the National Highway at Angamaly, sparking a skirmish with the police.
In Wayanad, hartal supporters blocked vehicles on the border routes to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu at Tholpetty, Muthanga, and Thaloor. In Kottayam, the office of the Vijayapuram Service Cooperative Bank at Manarcadu and the State Bank of India office in the town were pelted with stones. Stray incidents of stoning and attacks on party offices were reported from Kozhikode.
Private tourist buses were stoned in Wayanad and Malappuram. In Pathanamthitta, the police intervened to thwart an attempt to block special buses carrying Sabarimala pilgrims to Pampa.
Decrying the incident at Angamaly, CPI(M) State unit secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the police action on party workers was unprovoked.
He said the party would spearhead a movement against the government’s use of the police force to crush democratic means of protest.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the LDF had issued the call for a hartal to cover up its discomfiture over the shameful incidents in the Assembly and its fear of the agitation against the government turning into a fiasco.
In a pressnote here, he accused the LDF of using terror tactics against the people. Mr. Chandy said the incidents in the Assembly had cast a slur on the whole State.
The UDF would observe a ‘black day’ on Sunday to protest against the attacks on its party offices and legislators. KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran said protest marches and public meetings would be held in all constituencies.
