The dawn-to-dusk shutdown observed by the CPI(M)-led ruling LDF and Congress-headed Opposition UDF to protest fuel price rise brought Kerala to a virtual standstill on Monday. The response to the hartal, observed in response to the Congress’s call for Bharat Bandh, was total in the State while isolated incidents of stone-pelting and violence reported from some areas.
Shops, commercial establishments and offices remained closed while Government offices recorded skeletal attendance. The public transport system was paralysed with buses of private operators and the State-owned KSRTC, autorikshaws and taxis keeping off the roads. Not many private vehicles were seen on the roads in cities and major towns.
Incidents of stone-pelting and other small-scale violence were reported from several places. UDF workers allegedly indulged in violence extensively in Kollam district. They blocked the vehicle of Shahida Kamal, member of the State Commission for Women, and roughed up her in Kollam following which she was hospitalised with injuries.
“A group of Congress workers attacked me as I was going to Pathanapuram. They broke the car’s windowpanes and pulled on my hair. They attacked me physically and beat me in the face. They also abused me by calling me a traitor. They also attacked my driver,” Shahida said. The incident took place during early hours of the hartal.
Responding to reports on the attack against the SCW member, Bindu Krishna, president of the Kollam District Congress Committee, said that her party would not support violence and that the allegation would be looked into. Another report said Congress workers manhandled Saji Kumar, Circle Inspector of Police of Anchal in Kollam.
Reports from different districts said UDF workers had indulged in stone-pelting at vehicles. A KSRTC bus bound for Bangalore from Munnar came under stone-pelting at Padikkal in Malappuram district. Another bus was destroyed in attack from pro-shutdown activists at Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram district.
Though protests had come up from within both the LDF and UDF against observing a shutdown in the middle of the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities continuing in the State after the unprecedented floods, the hartal did not affect these activities seriously, as per reports from the flood-affected areas.
“The hartal certainly has created a lot of inconveniences but I support this protest wholeheartedly,” said Arun Balakrishnan, an IT engineer in Thiruvananthapuram. “The petrol price in the capital has crossed Rs 84 per liter. When the Centre is doing nothing to control such unprecedented fuel price rise, there should be protests against it,” he said.
In Thiruvananthapuram and other major cities and towns, police could be seen helping people to reach their destinations from railway stations and bus stands but the help was mostly for those who wanted to go to hospitals and offices. Workers of voluntary associations were also seen helping people in the same way.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Kochi, Kerala’s commercial capital, as shops, trading houses and other commercial establishments remained closed. Reports said majority of industrial units also virtually had a holiday on Monday due to the shutdown. However, the Kochi Metro operated its services as per normal schedule becoming a huge help to the people.
Educational institutions across the State remained closed on Monday. Of the total 4,793 employees working at the State Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, only 842 – 18 percent – reported on duty on Monday. Most of the Ministers also did not reach their offices in the Secretariat.
Thousands of workers from the LDF and UDF which observed the shutdown independently held demonstrations in all district headquarters and major towns of the State to protest against the alleged refusal of the Narendra Modi Government in the Centre to take effective action for curbing the steady rise in fuel prices.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy of the Congress led the UDF’s protests in Thiruvananthapuram while LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan of the CPI(M) inaugurated the Left’s demonstration in the State capital. “The Centre is doing nothing to control the price rise that is making life harder by the day for the poor. This cannot be allowed,” said Chandy.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala inaugurated the UDF’s protests in Kochi by travelling in a bullock-cart for a kilometer. The Kerala Lorry Owners’ Association protested the fuel price rise in Kannur in a novel way by pulling trucks using ropes. “The unending diesel price rise has pushed the lorry owners to the verge of suicide,” association president Ahraf Edakkad said.