The police use water canon to disperse Youth Congress workers during their Cliff House march against the cess on fuel and alleged police action in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: S. MAHINSHA
The police lobbed teargas shells and used water cannons several times to disperse a Youth Congress (YC) march to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence at the Cliff House here on Wednesday.
At least one Congress worker sustained a minor injury in the melee. A police ambulance rushed him to the General Hospital.
The District Youth Congress committee had organised the march to protest against the State government’s social security cess of ₹2 imposed on petrol and diesel retailed in the State.
Wearing black shirts as a symbol of protest and calling out the government’s “intolerance to democratic dissent”, the YC activists also demanded the administration to roll back the power and water tariff hike.
The police blocked the march at Devaswom Board Junction, at least 1 km from the Cliff House. Police officers in riot gear formed a phalanx behind the iron barricades on the road.
The violence erupted when YC activists attempted to sweep away the barricades and rush towards the police standing behind the iron fence. A scuffle ensued when police officers physically dissuaded the YC workers from advancing.
The activists refused to disperse and sat on the road in protest. Later, senior officers convinced the activists to surrender peacefully. The police hustled them away in a bus to the Museum police station where officers granted them bail.
The YC protest is the latest in a spree of demonstrations targeting Mr. Vijayan. The police have accorded unprecedented security to the Chief Minister, given the opposition protests.
The police had, in the past week, arrested several Congress and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) workers for staging black-flag protests at public functions attended by Mr. Vijayan in north Kerala.
Some had attempted to jump in front of the Chief Minister’s motorcade as it swept past by at considerable speed.
The Opposition slammed the government for prohibiting traffic and pedestrian movement on roads ahead of the arrival of the Chief Minister’s motorcade.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also initiated a black-flag protest campaign against Mr. Vijayan. In Thiruvananthapuram, the police arrested at least four BJP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha protesters for attempting to jump in front of Mr. Vijayan’s motorcade with black flags.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan said the Congress and the BJP were attempting to create “martyrs” to put the government on the defence by forming “suicide squads of activists” tasked by leaders with throwing themselves in front of the Chief Minister’s motorcade.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran accused the government of abusing the police to stifle democratic dissent. He warned that the Congress would step up the agitation for the rollback of the fuel price hike in the coming days.
