PSC job aspirants' protests: 16 KSU activists, 5 cops injured in clashes

March taken out by Cong students’ wing in solidarity with protesting PSC job aspirants turns violent in capital
KSU state president K M Abhijith, NSUI national coordinator Nabeel Kallambalam and others, who were injured in the clash with the police in front of the Secretariat, raise slogans on Thursday | Vincen
KSU state president K M Abhijith, NSUI national coordinator Nabeel Kallambalam and others, who were injured in the clash with the police in front of the Secretariat, raise slogans on Thursday | Vincen

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a brief lull, the busy MG Road in front of the Secretariat resembled a bloody war zone following clashes between Kerala Students Union (KSU) members and the police on Thursday. Sixteen KSU workers and five policemen were injured in the pitched battle as the cops blocked a march led by union president K M Abhijith in solidarity with the protesting PSC job aspirants. The PSC job aspirants’ protests had not seen violence till now.

The clashes started immediately after KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran left the protest venue after inaugurating the protest march. The KSU activists tried to enter the Secretariat. This led the police to resort to fire water cannons to disperse them. The KSU activists threw stones at them in retaliation and the police started caning the students left, right and centre.

Those injured include Abhijith, NSUI secretary Eric Stephen, NSUI national coordinator and KSU state general secretary Nabeel Kallambalam, KSU vice-president Sneha S Nair, Thiruvananthapuram district secretary Sajna B Sajan, Thiruvananthapuram district president Syedali Kaipadi and state secretary Bahul Krishna. Several woman KSU activists also sustained injuries as the police cornered them and beat them up. 

The injured were initially taken to the Medical College Hospital  and later shifted to a private hospital at Chackai. When the march turned violent, Youth Congress leaders who were on a hunger strike at the adjoining protest venue rushed to the spot. Encouraged by their presence, KSU activists staged a sit-in protest in front of the Secretariat for hours. Abhijith told reporters that the students will not allow the LDF government to end their protest by unleashing violence. 

“The policemen who attacked us brutally had not worn their nameplates from which it was clear that they were keen to suppress our protest somehow and ensure that there was bloodshed. We have decided to hold statewide protests against the police brutality on Friday,” said Abhijith.Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala during a reception given to his Aishwarya Kerala Yatra in Kollam condemned the police atrocity against the KSU activists.

 Mullappally visited the injured KSU activists at the hospital in the evening. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy warned the LDF government that its ploy to suppress the youth organisation’s protest will not be tolerated.

YC will launch statewide protests: Shafi
T’Puram:  
After the protest march taken out by the KSU to the Secretariat on Thursday took a violent turn, Youth Congress state president Shafi Parambil, MLA, has warned the party would now launch statewide protests against the government apathy towards PSC job aspirants. “If Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is planning to suppress our voice with the arrogance of power, the Youth Congress will take protests to the state level,” he said.

The scuffle between the police and activists of KSU and Youth Congress took place immediately after KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran, who inaugurated the march, left the venue. Later, Shafi told reporters that policemen unleashed violence against woman leaders without showing an iota of compassion. KSU state vice-president Sneha S Nair has suffered a head injury from the police attack, he said.

CM flays KSU over ‘organised attack’
T’Puram:
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday came down heavily on the KSU protest before the Secretariat with the protest scene resembling a war zone for a couple of hours. Pinarayi alleged that the KSU resorted to an ‘organised attack’ on the police. He said such organised attacks on the police were carried out with the sole intention of derailing the development projects and welfare schemes of the LDF government. Rallying behind the police, the chief minister wanted to know what wrong they had committed when the KSU activists went out of control. He also said that the KSU activists targeted another set of people who were protesting in front of the Secretariat.

UDF trying to create riots, alleges CPM
T’Puram:
The Opposition UDF has been trying to create a riot-like situation in the state using the PSC job aspirants’ strike in front of the Secretariat, alleged the CPM. The job aspirants who are staging protests should think for themselves whether they ought to fall into the UDF’s political trap, said the CPM state secretariat. In a statement, the party leadership alleged that the UDF’s attempt is to prevent public discussion on the Left government’s developmental achievements. The achievements of the state government can prove beneficial to the Left in the coming elections and that is why the UDF has been spreading baseless rumours, it stated.

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