33 Kerala outfits announce hartal to protest citizenship act, no change in exam schedules

Mangalore Today News Network

Kochi, Dec 17, 2019: Amid countrywide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 33 organisations in Kerala, including small political parties, have come forward have called for a statewide shutdown on Tuesday. These political parties do not have any representation in the Kerala Assembly to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, News18 reported.

 

While all the leading political parties have termed the shutdown as unwarranted, the traders’ body has said they will also not stop normal business. But one of the organisers of the shutdown, Ravunni of Poratam organisation, said, “Since the CAA is against the Constitution, we have no other option but to go ahead with the shutdown.”

All school examinations fixed for Tuesday will be held as per the original schedule and there would be no changes in any timings or dates, director of general education K Jeevan Babu has announced.

The clarification was issued to avoid the confusion in view of the hartal call by some organisations in protest against the CAA and NRC acts.

Among the political parties which have given the call for the shutdown are the SDPI and the Welfare Party.

Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra on Monday termed a proposed statewide shutdown as illegal. He said those who have called for the shutdown have not followed the Kerala High Court ruling which said seven days’ notice should be given when calling for shutdowns. "The shutdown is illegal and hence strict action will be taken against the organisers. We urge the organisers to withdraw it," said Behra.

According to police, the impact of the hartal in Kerala will be limited to pockets in seven districts, mainly in the north.

While vehicular traffic was reported to be normal in Thiruvananthapuram, stone-pelting on three buses was reported from a few areas.

Kerala’s arch political opponents, the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front, have also joined hands to launch a joint protest against the new law.

on Monay, when chief minister and CPI(M) veteran Pinarayi Vijayan and senior Congress leader and opposition head in the state assembly Ramesh Chennitha led a joint protest against the CAA, it became a rare chapter in the state’s politics.

Besides them, Vijayan’s cabinet ministers and party leaders and Chennithala’s party MLAs and colleagues took part in the protest held at the special platform erected in front of the Martyrs’s Column in the heart of the state capital.

A sense of togetherness against a ’common threat’ seemed to have gripped the atmosphere of the joint protest venue. Both the ruling and opposition leaders minced no words in attacking the BJP-led NDA government over the CAA and seeing "Sangh Parivar agenda" behind the move.

While Vijayan said the country was facing an ’explosive’ atmosphere, Chennithala alleged the Sangh was "experimenting with the idea" of German dictator Adolf Hitler in the country.

Protesting the police action on students of Jamia on Monday, activists of the DYFI, the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M), squatted on the railway tracks at Thiruvalla and Kollam and blocked trains on Monday.

While the protesters blocked the Velankani-Ernakulam express for 13 minutes at the Thiruvalla railway station in Pathnamthitta district, the Island express was blocked at the Kollam station, railway sources said.