Anti-GAIL stir hotting up in Malappuram

Maravattom protest ends in police lathicharge leaving several, including women, injured

An injured Anti-GAIL protester walks away from the conflict scene at Maravattom on Tuesday, where police opened lathicharge against the People’s Action Council activists.

A march taken out against the proposed GAIL natural pipeline project at Maravattom, near Kadambuzha, on Tuesday ended in a police lathicharge in which several protesters, including women, were injured.

The protesters were from the People’s Action Council, which condemned the police action and threatened to launch a mass agitation on Thursday by including leaders of different political parties.

Gains momentum

Even otherwise, the agitation against the pipeline project has gained momentum in the district with the youth wings of parties like the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Congress, and the CPI coming to the forefront. The stir has been strengthening near Areekode, the other end of Malappuram where it borders with Kozhikode district, for the past several weeks.

Eranjimavu, near Areekode, became the hub of the agitation when large crowds prevented GAIL officials from conducting pipeline work, braving a large police posse last week.

They even performed mass Juma prayers at the agitation site.

Gafoor Kurumadan, chairman of the Eranjimavu Anti-Gail Action Council, said they would not retreat from their agitation, as hundreds of poor people were to lose their homes for the proposed gas pipeline. Mr. Kurumadan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had joined hands for the GAIL project. “They don’t care for the people of this high-density district who stand to lose a lot, including their homes,” he said.

The CPI(M) on Tuesday distanced itself from the anti-GAIL agitation of Eranjimavu, saying that the party had nothing to do with it. A statement by the party district secretariat said here that some sections were trying to mislead the people in the name of agitation. It said that neither its leaders nor workers were part of the agitation.

Support

But with many workers and local leaders of the party extending their support to the agitation, the party’s official statement has put protesters in a fix.

A statement by the GAIL authorities said here on Tuesday that some sections were creating confusion among the people. It said that GAIL was never averse to allaying the people’s concerns about the pipeline. “We shall never compromise the people’s safety,” said Jothi Kumar, chief manager of GAIL’s corporate communications.