CPM continues to cross sword with governor; PKS calls for dharna to Raj Bhavan for dalit cruelty

Kollam: In light of the ongoing conflict between the Governor and the state government, the CPM is planning to take up more protests against Arif Mohammed Khan. After SFI, the Scheduled Caste Welfare Committee (PKS) is also launching protests against the governor. The CPM state committee gave instructions to the PKS leadership after beginning protests against the death of the tribal youth Vijeesh who succumbed after allegedly being beaten at the governor’s office. The protestors labelled the Raj Bhavan as being the locus of dalit torture.

Rateesh Ravi

Following this, PKS has decided to conduct a march and dharna to the Raj Bhavan on January 17 with thousands of supporters. As the strike has been called on short notice, efforts are being made to ensure participation from all the party supporters in the Thiruvananthapuram district. The decision to have CPM leader AK Balan inaugurate the march is also believed to be a calculated move.

Meanwhile, PKS declaring a sudden protest to an incident that happened one and a half months ago seems to be fuelled by the communist party’s decision to take up maximum arms against the governor. The CPM state committee that met the other day had vowed to protest against the governor by all means possible. SFI has been carrying out black flag protests for weeks now, citing the unfair nomination of university senate members. A district hartal was announced on the day the governor visited Idukki last week.

As far as the death of the tribal youth is concerned, police registered a case of unnatural death and the accused officials were transferred. A case has been lodged against two persons under the SC/ST Act.

Courtesy`: Mathrubhumi English

Note: This news piece was originally published in mathrubhumi.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right