Tension prevailed in the marches taken out by the All India Students Federation (AISF) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) to the Secretariat and the official residence of the Minister for Education in the capital to protest against the commercilisation of education and the Government’s move to grant aided status to 35 schools in Malappuram district.
The AISF activists who took out the march to the Secretariat under the leadership of the state secretary, K. P. Sandeep tried to barge into the premises by toppling the barricades erected by the police after engaging in a minor scuffle with the police personnel. The police personnel maintained maximum restraint to prevent things from going out of hand. In the mele, the four activists who sneaked into the Secretariat premises were taken into custody by the police and immediately shifted to the Cantonment police station.
Around the same time, the DYFI activists took out a march to the official residence of the Education Minister, P. K. Abdu Rabb in the Cantonment premises. The activists were stopped by the police near the Mascot square by erecting barricades. The activists toppled the barricades and engaged in the stone-pelting against the strong police posse stationed near the road leading to Cantonment House. Following this, the police had to use the water cannon to disperse the activists. Later, DYFI president, M. Swaraj inaugurated the dharna.
The SFI also took out march to the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education near the Housing Board Junction. According to the police, the AISF activists Sandeep, district president J. Arun Babu, Secretary Adarsh Krishna and Rahul Raj were let off from the station by granting bail. The police have registered a case against the AISF activists who took out the march to the Secretariat and for violating the police directive. Vehicular traffic in the city was affected on Monday due to the three marches and the rain that intensified after a lull.
