Violence marks BJP hartal in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Incidents of violence were reported from several parts of the state during the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the BJP on Thursday. The shutdown was to protest the killing of a 27-year-old BJP activist at Pinarayi in Kannur, allegedly by CPM men on Wednesday . Pro-hartal activists targeted journalists at several places in the state. An ambulance was attacked in the state capital.
Both Congress and CPM condemned the hartal-related violence.Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala termed the violence 'barbaric', and it was an assault on the citizens' right to live.“After announcing that the media and medical fields were exempted from hartal, they purposefully attacked journalists and an ambulance in Thiruvananthapuram,“ he said in a statement. The ambulance, belonging to DFYI, was parked at East Fort.
CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the BJP used force to make the hartal a success. “In many parts of the state, they attacked CPM men. Three DYFI workers were attacked in Palakkad. Students of Victoria College were also attacked. In Chathannoor in Kollam, three local committee members were attacked,“ he said.
He urged the Union government to advise BJP and RSS men in Kerala to shed the path of violence and embrace peace.
The hartal began peacefully in the state, but later took a violent turn.BJP activists went on a rampage in Thiruvananthapuram, attacking vendors, CPM workers and journalists. Police swung into action to prevent further untoward incidents when hartal supporters unleashed violence in Muslim-dominated Nemom, Kunjalummood and Thalikkode in Thiruvananthapuram.
Later, BJP men targeted journalists covering the party's secretariat march. Hartal supporters were provoked when photojournalists captured them vandalizing CPM's publicity materials and boards of restaurants. Two cameras were damaged in the incident.
Cantonment police have registered a case against 15 BJP activists who could be identified. Police said a case of robbery too has been registered after one of the complainants said he had lost Rs 600 and an ATM card during the skirmish.
BJP activists clashed with CPM workers at Sreevaraham in the evening, leaving several of them injured. Police have registered a case.
In Kollam, incidents of violence were reported from Chathannoor, Chamakkada and Karunagappally .A car, belonging to the superintendent of Amrita Ayurveda Medical College was attacked around 5am, before the hartal started, at Karunagappally. A few vans ferrying fish were also attacked.
Photojournalist R S Gopan of Malayala Manorama and freelance photographer Vishnu Prathap were attacked while capturing the images of rampaging BJP workers at Old Vegetable Market in Kottayam. In Pala, BJP workers clashed with police.Security has been beefed up at Chirakkadavu, which remained tense.
Journalists were assaulted at Kattappana in Idukki, where the district labour office in Thodupuzha was attacked. The shutdown affected tourist destinations in the district, Munnar and Thekkady .
In Alappuzha, too, media persons were assaulted for covering BJP men attacking a vehicle ferrying a wedding party at Cherthala. Two injured journalists were admitted to the taluk hospital. An ambulance of the hospital was blocked at Perumpara Kavala.
Two television cameramen were injured when hartal supporters turned violent in Thrissur. A group of unidentified men vandalized the Azhikodan Raghavan memorial at Chettiyangadi. The hartal, however, did not have much impact on pilgrims visiting Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple.
In Palakkad, three DYFI workers were injured in clashes at Kanniyampara in Ottappalam. At Mannarkkad, CPM and BJP workers clashed with each other. There were widespread destruction of hoardings and banners of CITU state conference in Palakkad town. The hartal witnessed sporadic incidents of violence in Kozhikode, with activists pelting stones at vehicles, including KSRTC buses, at many places in the district.
In a separate incident, a group of unidentified men pelted stones at the house of Nangeelankandi Rashid, (24), who was recently arrested by the NIA for allegedly being part of an ISIS-inspired group at Valayanoor near Kuttiady .
In Kannur, the hartal was peaceful, though there were allegations that people ­ who participated in the funeral procession of the slain BJP activist, Ramith, ­ targeted the CPM and CPI offices in some places.
Ramith was murdered a day after a CPM worker, K Mohanan, was killed near Anjarakkandy in Kannur. Ramith's father, BMS activist Chodon Uthaman, was murdered in 2001.