The dawn-to-dusk general strike by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to deter women between the age of 10 and 50 from worshipping at Sabarimala turned violent in many parts of the State on Thursday.
A senior official said right-wing Hindu groups and BJP workers posing as Sabarimala pilgrims threw stones at passers-by, police pickets, government vehicles, public transport buses and private cars at Pathanamthitta, Mancheri in Malappuram district, Palakkad, and Sasthamkottai in Kollam district. BJP workers targeted one Tamil Nadu bus at Pathanamthitta.
The impact of the bandh was felt across the State strongly. Shops, fuel outlets, hotels and other private establishments remained shut. The roads looked deserted except for an occasional vehicle.
Transport Minister K .Saseendran told reporters that strike supporters had wrecked at least 32 KSRTC buses and he had called off operations temporarily.
Autorickshaws and taxis remained off the road. Scores of passengers, including foreign tourists, were stranded at airports and bus and railway stations across the State. The police ferried many of them in their vans to nearby hotels and other destinations.
Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran squarely blamed the BJP for the violence. He said if the BJP stopped “verbally abusing women and reined in their goons” the pilgrimage would proceed smoothly.
His comment came against the backdrop of The New York Times journalist Suhasini Raj getting besieged by belligerent “Save Sabarimala” campaigners midway up the climb to the ancient forest shrine. Ms. Raj, 46, was injured in the melee. The police have registered a case against the campaigners on the charge of illegally detaining Ms. Raj and outraging her modesty as a woman.
Cases filed against protestors
Meanwhile, the police have initiated strong legal action against strike supporters. They arrested Rahul Easwar, the television face of the “Save Sabarimala” campaign and leader of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena, on the charge of assaulting the police, rioting, unlawful assembly and violating the order of the Supreme Court (258/2018 Pampa Police Station Crime). An official said he was produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody for a period of 14 days.
The police also arrested Pradeep Viswanathan, leader of the All India Hindu Parishad, on the charge of damaging police vehicles and destroying public property (259/2018 Pampa Police Crime). They remanded him to judicial custody.
The police have booked three persons on the charge of attacking Pooja Prasanna, Republic TV reporter , at Nilackal. An officer said the news team had suffered a loss of ₹3 lakh in the mob violence. He identified the leaders of the mob as Pradeep Kothamangalam, Gopakumar Chalakuddy and Rahul Viswanath, Kottayam.
The police have booked Kottayam Suraj, Pala Sunil and Alappuzha Sivakumar, on the charge of assaulting The News Minute reporter Sarita Balan at Pampa.
An officer said the police would soon arrest the suspects in both cases of assault on women reporters.
