The Hindu : Hartal total, peaceful in State

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Hartal total, peaceful in State

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM March 11. The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Opposition LDF today to press for a judicial inquiry into the February 19 Muthanga incidents passed off peacefully with neither any disruption of the ICSE-CBSE examination or major violent incidents.

The Opposition hartal had more than the usual impact, possibly on account of the fear that Opposition activists would indulge in violence. At the end of the day, it turned out that barring some minor incidents, there was no violence in connection with the hartal. Although there was fear that the hartal would make it impossible for students appearing for the ICSE-CBSE examination, no attempt to prevent the students from appearing for the examinations was reported from any part of the State.

The KSRTC had withdrawn all its services on instructions from the Transport Minister, R. Balakrishna Pillai, immediately on taking charge as Minister. Private buses, taxis, autorickshaws and other public carriers also stayed off the road. Two-wheelers were also fewer in number as compared to earlier hartals and all the markets and most shops and commercial establishments remained closed. Government offices reported very thin attendance.

In Kannur, the hartal supporters did not erect even the usual road blocks in an apparent bid to ensure that there was no negative fallout as was sought to be made out by the Government. In Kasaragod, there was only an incident of a newspaper vendor getting roughed up at Korakkad near Cheemeni.

In Kottayam, hartal supporters tried to barge into the Kumarakom branch of the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) resulting in an altercation. In Kozhikode, hartal supporters stoned the local Indian Bank branch. In Pathanamthitta, the hartal brought normal life to a halt. In the State capital, the hartal supporters roughed up the driver of the ambulance of a private hospital. There were also stray incidents of stone throwing.

The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, termed the success of the hartal a stern warning to the Government. The CPI(M) State secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, hoped that the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, would take the right lesson from the hartal and give his stubborn stand against a judicial inquiry into the Muthanga incidents.

The LDF convener, Paloli Mohammed Kutty, also expressed similar hopes. The CPI State secretary, Veliyam Bhargavan, said the hartal reflected the people's desire for a judicial inquiry. The RSP State secretary, T. J. Chandrachoodan, said the success of the hartal showed that even UDF cadres had been supportive of it.

The LDF activists took out marches in different parts of the State in support of the hartal. The march in Thiruvananthapuram was led by the CITU State general secretary, P. K Gurudasan, the CPI State assistant secretary, Panniyan Ravindran, and the Congress (S) leader, Ramachandran Kadannappalli.

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Hartal total, peaceful in State