An uneasy calm prevailed over Kottayam during the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Sabarimala Karama Samithi and supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday.
The region witnessed isolated incidents of clash in different locations, including Ponkunnam, Thalayolaparambu, and Pampady during the day.
Hartal supporters threw stones at a supermarket in Ponkunnam and allegedly manhandled the employees in the morning. Flags and display boards of political parties were destroyed in various places, including Changanassery and Pala. Two BJP workers were injured in stone pelting during a rally held in Pampady.
Preventive custody
On Wednesday evening, the police had taken a few BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders into preventive custody to check untoward incidents during the hartal. The day-long protest threw life out of gear with private buses and autorickshaws staying off the road. The KSRTC operated 25 Pampa special services from the Kottayam depot during hartal. The services returned to normality after 6 p.m.
Police help
The police deployed their official vehicles to transport those stranded at the Kottayam railway station. Sabarimala pilgrims from other States, who reached Kottayam on trains, were put to immense hardship in the absence of vehicles for their onward journey. The closing down of all commercial establishments, including restaurants, added to their misery.
A tense situation prevailed in Kottayam town as protesters converged on the streets since the morning. Unlike on previous occasions, the hartal had a near-total impact on the Erumely town, which is generally exempted from such protests during the annual pilgrim season at Sabarimala. While KSRTC operated a few services to Sabarimala in the morning, the shops operating in the temple town here were forced to close down.
The DYFI workers offered food and water to Sabarimala pilgrims. They also took out a rally in Manarcaud against the hartal.
