745 arrests, 628 in preventive custody; Governor seeks urgent report

Thiruvananthapuram: A hartal called by Sabarimala Karma Samiti forced Kerala to a standstill on Thursday as the right-wing outfits violently protested against the state government for allowing two women to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala on Wednesday.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets, shouting slogans and waving flags. Streets turned into battle fields with clashes between activists of right-wing outfits and the ruling CPM workers. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan flayed the Sangh Parivar outfits for disrupting law and order situation in the state during the dawn-to-dusk hartal, backed by the BJP.

The women duo, Kanakadurga and Bindu, stated that the visit to Sabarimala was not part of an agenda and was at their own will. "We climbed the hill along with other devotees and was accompanied by two SPs," they told Manorama News in an exclusive interview.

Police chief Loknath Behera had warned of severe action if protesters unleashed violence and obstructed road traffic.

Behera's warning had no effect as protesters went on rampage in several areas.

Violence erupted in many districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kannur and Kozhikode.

Barring a few incidents, Ernakulam and Kottayam remained relatively peaceful.

Bus services, including the state-run KSRTC, were halted and most of the autorickshaws and taxis did not ply.

Earlier traders had said they would function even on hartal day. However, this led to further escalation of violence with agitators forcing the shops to down shutters.

Few shops functioned even in the famed SM Street of Kozhikode despite the presence of a huge posse of policemen.

Shops and hotels remained closed in most parts of the state.

Television channels aired visuals of protesters forcibly downing shutters of shops after the hartal began at 6 am.

The protesters burnt tyres and placed granite blocks on roads to check vehicular transport in Kozhikode, Palakkad and Kollam.

The local party offices of the ruling CPM were pelted with stones in several places, including Ernakulam and Malappuram districts.

A library run by the CPM party in Palakkad was vandalised by protesters. Autorickshaws and private buses were damaged during stone pelting in Kannur and Kozhikode.

Police patrol vehicles were also attacked in some places.

A large number of protesters were arrested in various districts in connection with the violent incidents.

A 64-year old woman, Pathumma from Wayanad, who came for treatment at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram, collapsed and died at the railway station in the morning.

Her relatives alleged that a delay in getting ambulance service resulted in her death.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, two women were escorted by police into the Sabarimala temple through a side gate, catching the protesting devotees off the guard.

The Supreme Court had on September 28 allowed women of all age groups to enter the temple.

Protests against the women entering the temple erupted quickly. A Sabarimala Karma Samiti worker, Chandran Unnithan, died during a stone pelting incident in Pandalam.

The UDF also observed a black day on Thursday.

Women were not airdropped: CM

Condemning the widespread violence, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that this was the fifth statewide hartal called by the BJP over the Sabarimala issue.

He said police personnel were merely doing their duty when they escorted the two women to Sabarimala.

Pinarayi said the two women were not 'airdropped' to Sabarimala but went as normal devotees and the other pilgrims did not protest.

"Kanakadurga and Bindu were given protection after they sought security to visit the shrine. They were not airdropped. They visited shrine like normal devotees. None of the devotees protested," he told reporters here.

The chief minister also said that conducting hartal over women's entry into the shrine was like calling a hartal against the Supreme Court's order.

Coming down heavily on the chief priest's action of closing the temple for purification ceremony, Pinarayi said this was against the apex court's verdict.

"Such things are to be decided by the Devaswom Board. The action was not only a violation of the Supreme Court's verdict but also against the rules of the board," Pinarayi added.

Meanwhile, a woman journalist from Hyderabad, Deepti, reached Pamba on Thursday. Though reports said she sought security to visit Sabarimala, she later clarified that she was in Pamba as part of her duty and did not plan to visit Sannidhanam.

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