The Congress party will take legal measures against the preventive detention of Opposition parties’ workers ahead of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s visit to various places, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran has said.
In a press release issued on Sunday, he said the situation was such that the public cannot venture outside if the Chief Minister is attending a function in a particular area. The police had taken measures akin to an undeclared emergency ahead of Mr. Vijayan’s visit to Kannur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, and Ernakulam, he said.
‘Trampling on rights’
Mr. Sudhakaran said that preventing the movement of the general public and detention of political opponents were condemnable. The State government was trampling upon the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including the right to wear clothes of one’s choice and the right to free movement. “Preventive detention can be carried out only in circumstances as specified in the rules. It cannot be done to protect the narrow interests of any individual. The Kerala Police is misusing Section 151 of the Cr.PC for the Chief Minister. Protests are not a crime in a democracy,” he said.
