Thiruvananthapuram: Taking to the streets to protest against the alleged high-handedness of the CPM's youth wing and the wilful ignorance of the police in attacking Youth Congress (YC) and Kerala Students Union (KSU) workers for showing black flags to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his cabinet colleagues, the Congress on Wednesday warned it will take the law into its hands if proper action is not taken by the police against the perpetrators.
Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan threatened that its youth wing organisations would now hit back if police action was not taken against those who attacked its people from Kalliaseri in Kannur district to Kollam during the Nava Kerala Sadas, the Kerala government's public outreach programme. Another demand he made was to remove the chief minister's "criminal" gunman and personal security officers who allegedly beat up YC and KSU activists for showing black flags to Pinarayi Vijayan.
His warning came while addressing the YC and Congress workers gathered outside the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram in protest against the alleged attacks on their people.
Hundreds of YC workers, led by their state president Rahul Mamkoottathil and accompanied by Satheesan, marched to the secretariat carrying a banner questioning whether Pinarayi Vijayan was the chief minister or "chief goonda".
The YC protestors also tore down the banners and posters related to the Nava Kerala Sadas along the route to the Secretariat. Police were deployed in large numbers along with water cannons for crowd control.
The protestors sat down in front of the Secretariat and shouted slogans against the state government and demanding the CM's resignation. Satheesan, while addressing the gathering, questioned how police could beat up the protestors and also termed the CM as a "coward hiding behind the police and criminals" who has a "sadistic mindset". "There is a limit to everything. Till now we have been telling them (YC-KSU activists) to exercise restraint. I am here to change that stance," he said.
Satheesan said the YC and KSU workers will hit back if the police do not lodge cases and take action against those who allegedly attacked them from the beginning of the Nava Kerala Sadas and if the "criminal" gunman and personal security officers of the CM are not removed from their posts.
"If these two things are not done, hit back. We will hit back. Let there be no doubt about that. We will account for every attack on us from Kalliasseri to Kollam. We know who attacked our people. We will retaliate starting from Kalliasseri," the LoP said.
Following the speeches by Satheesan and YC leaders, some of the protestors tried to climb over the barricades into the Secretariat and also threw sticks and stones against the police and its water cannon vehicle.
In response, the police used the water cannon several times to disperse the protestors, but the YC workers were not dissuaded and they kept throwing stones and sticks at the police and its water cannon vehicle.
The YC activists also snatched away and smashed the shields of the police personnel who stopped them from entering the secretariat and even smashed the window of a police bus.
As the YC activists became violent, the police finally resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the protestors and also took several of them into custody.
Even Mamkoottathil was allegedly injured in the lathi charge. He told reporters that this kind of police action was not seen against the Students' Federation of India (SFI) activists when they protested against the Governor and demanded that his injured YC colleagues be hospitalised.
The Congress, YC and KSU workers also carried out marches to police stations across the state in protest against the alleged attacks on YC-KSU activists over their black flag protests against Vijayan.
They protested outside police stations in districts across the state and the police used force and water cannons to try and disperse the agitators.
Before joining the YC march to the secretariat, Satheesan told TV channels that the CM was accompanied by three vehicles filled with goondas in addition to over 2,000 police personnel while travelling across the state for the Nava Kerala Sadas programmes.
He said while the CM and his cabinet ministers were travelling across the state, YC and KSU workers protesting against them were allegedly beaten up at numerous places but no cases were lodged against the perpetrators of the violence.
Satheesan warned that the party will take the law into its hands if the police do not initiate cases against those who beat up the YC-KSU protestors, including a physically handicapped youth, and try to protect the attackers.
"If they lodge the cases and take action in accordance with law, we will be quiet. Otherwise, we will take the law into our hands. This is the first time we are saying this. We have to protect our younger party members.
"So, do not make us take the law into our hands. We can also hit back at those who hit our people. Do not make us do it," he said. He also questioned whether the CM has any shame to continue in office in view of the violence by criminals.
Satheesan said that the CM has engaged criminals to protect himself and appeared to have lost faith in the police to do so.
The Congress on Wednesday organised protest marches to 564 police stations across the state under the aegis of the party's mandalam committees.
It would also be holding a massive march, led by KPCC chief K Sudhakaran, to the office of the state DGP Sheikh Darvesh Sahib on December 23 as a mark of protest against the alleged attacks on YC-KSU activists over the black flags shown to Vijayan.
The opposition party has alleged that the ruling CPM workers and Vijayan's security personnel have been brutally assaulting the activists of their youth and student outfits for waving black flags.
(With PTI inputs)
