An impressive turnout of people, with a surprisingly large number of women, marked the human chain protest of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) against the Centre’s demonetisation drive in Kozhikode district on Thursday.
Hand in hand, people lined up in single along the highways and arterial roads from one end of the district to the other as well as at towns and junctions. From Poozhithala at the northern to Idimoozhikkal in the south, the human chain in the district stretched for about 80 km. The flow of traffic was affected at several places, mainly in town centres and junctions along the route.
The enthusiastic participation of women raising loud slogans against the demonetisation is attributed to the hardships suffered by the working class and lower-middle-class housewives starved of cash for daily needs. The crippling of the cooperative banking sector, which is an important financial lifeline for the rural farmers and artisans in the district, was one of the reasons for the large participation of rural people in the human chain.
CPI(M) district leadership claimed that more than three lakh people had shown up for the protest. They also claimed that people from across the political spectrum turned out for the chain and this was because of the hardships they faced everyday because of the cash crunch as well as loss of wages and incomes.
Finance Minister Thomas Isaac launched the human chain at an event held in the Kozhikode city. Ministers T.P. Ramakrishnan and A.K. Saseendran, trade union leaders such as Elamaram Kareem, MLAs, writers and cultural activists attended the launch event.
