: An all-party peace meeting chaired by Minister for Agriculture K.P. Mohanan here on Friday called upon the police to intensify patrolling and raids for weapons and chalk out plans to restore peace in the district.
The all-party meeting was held at the Collectorate conference hall. The meeting was convened in the wake of escalation of tension in parts of the district and the murder of a Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker at Chittariparamba here on February 26.
Violence condemned
The meeting condemned the killing of the CPI(M) worker and the incidents of violence, including attacks on party offices and establishments.
Speakers at the meeting also proposed bilateral meetings of the CPI(M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership mediated by the government to ease tension in the district.
Such bilateral meetings should also be convened at the district and local levels, it was proposed. The Minister told the meeting that he would include the suggestion for bilateral talks in his report to the Chief Minister and Home Minister. The Cabinet would discuss the suggestion on March 4, he said.
The meeting decided that an all-party delegation would visit Poyiloor and other areas to get first-hand knowledge of the problems there and suggest solutions. It also proposed that local party leadership should take the initiative in maintaining peace in their respective areas and ensure that minor local issues did not lead to political clashes.
District Collector P. Bala Kiran; District Police Chief P.N. Unnirajan; MLAs K.K. Narayanan, E.P. Jayarajan and C. Krishnan; CPI(M) district secretary P. Jayarajan; BJP district president K. Ranjith; RSS leader Valsan Thillankery; district Congress president K. Surendran; and Indian Union Muslim League leader V.K. Abdul Khader Moulavii were among those who spoke at the meeting.
