Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala was in ferment on Thursday, a day after two women of menstruating age entered the Sabarimala temple, infuriating saffron outfits, with protesters blocking roads by placing burning tyres and granite blocks, and clashes leaving three BJP workers injured in a knife attack, officials said.
The dawn to dusk shutdown called by Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an umbrella organisation of various pro-Hindutva groups, and the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), plunged the state into turmoil, as hundreds of Hindu right-wing activists disrupted vehicular movement, and vandalised shops and offices of the ruling CPI(M).
The state was under siege as strike supporters clashed with police and the ruling CPI(M) activists at several places.
In Thrissur, three BJP activists were stabbed during a clash with workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of Popular Front of India, a militant Islamic outfit, police said. Most state-run buses kept off the roads after several of them were damaged in Wednesday’s violence, while only a few autorickshaws plied in cities and towns.
A 55-year-old man, who was seriously injured when CPI (M) workers hurled stones at protesters from atop their party office at Pandalam in Pathanamthitta district, died late Wednesday night.
Nine people accused of involvement in the attack have been identified and two of them arrested, police said. As tempers ran high in Kerala, the Supreme Court Thursday refused to urgently hear a contempt petition moved by a lawyers’ group against Sabarimala temple authorities for closing the shrine for purification after two women entered it. Protest demonstrations by the BJP and Sabarimala Karma Samithi turned violent at several places in Kozhikode, Kannur Malappuram, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram.
Police used batons and water canons to break up protests. The office of the CPI at Palakkad was attacked by the protesters and the vehicles parked in front of it, including police vehicles were pelted with stones.
Normal life was thrown haywire because of the shutdown, as shops and hotels remained shuttered in the state capital.
Some Youth Congress workers were injured when they were hit by the pilot vehicle of the chief minister’s convoy while they attempted to show black flags to Vijayan.
The Congress is observing a ‘black day’ against the entry of women into the Sabarimala shrine, the abode of its perenially celibate deity Lord Ayyappa. The state’s universities postponed the examinations scheduled for Thursday. (PTI)
