KOTTAYAM: SilverLine, the Rs 64,000-crore semi-high speed rail corridor project, has been facing stiff resistance from people. However, the police team led by Changanassery DySP R Sreekumar, which had come to disperse the people agitating against the land acquisition for the project at Panachikkad in Kottayam, was not prepared for the forceful retort from a woman leader.
“There is an incomplete bridge here for which the foundation stone was laid 40 years ago when Suresh Kurup was the MP (of Kottayam). Tell them (the government) to complete its construction. Tell them to provide drinking water for everyone in Panachikkad panchayat. Tell them to build roads without potholes. Let’s think about the K-Rail project after that,” she told a stunned officer. K-Rail is the government company mandated to execute the project.
A video of Mini K Philip, district secretary of Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), confronting the posse of police with hard-hitting words went viral on social media. The dramatic scenes unfolded at Velluthuruthi in Panachikkad. It happened when residents and members of the agitation council against the K-Rail project prevented officials’ attempt to mark the land to be acquired for the project.
Mini blasted officials when police tried to disperse the mob to help officials to carry out their job. Responding to a query from the officials whether the protesters were against development, Mini said constructions made of cement and steel don’t mean development. “Real development means ensuring opportunity for the people of a region to fulfil their primary needs. They need education, drinking water, jobs and health. People should get the rights and powers to live like human beings,” she said. Following the protest, officials stopped their work even though a sufficient police force was present on the spot.