By Najiya O, TwoCircles.net
Hundreds have been detained even as the hartal-supporters were not allowed to hold protest march in several places. At some sites, the Police resorted to lathi charge against protesters.
In Calicut, 20 women including Fasna Mian, state secretary of the Fraternity Movement, who held a peaceful protest march raising slogans against the NRC and CAA were detained by the police. The women, one of whom was with her 3-year-old daughter, were forced into the police vehicle and taken off to the women’s police station in the city.
Meanwhile, A Pradeep Kumar, MLA of Kozhikode North, told TCN that police action was taken on the women as they blocked the road in front of the KSRTC bus stand, as seen on the TV. He added that it was the normal procedure of the police in cases of dharna, hartal etc. The CPI(M) leader also refuted the accusation that the police action on the protestors was discriminatory.
The hartal was called on December 13 by a joint committee formed of several Muslim and Dalit youth and political parties in the state such as the SDPI, the Welfare Party, The Dalit Human Rights Movement, the BSP, the SIO, the Minority Rights Watch, the Solidarity Youth Movement etc. Several known personalities in the socio-political sphere in the state such as Dr J Devika, Dr TT Sreekumar, KK Baburaj, Adv PA Pauran, Gro Vasu, Adv Thushar Nirmal Sarathi, Dr Rekha Raj, CP Asheed etc also expressed solidarity with the hartal. However, the mainstream political parties like the CPI (M), the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League and others kept away from the hartal. The Kerala police also had stood against the hartal, hinting towards strong action against those who participated. A petition was filed at the High Court requesting to deny permission for the hartal, but was dismissed on Monday.
The mainstream political parties kept away from the hartal pointing out that the state government was already against the CAA and the government along with the opposition parties had organized a joint protest on December 16. They also maintained that the hartal was unnecessary and it would only help the BJP and Sangh teams to polarize the Kerala society.
There was a joint protest by the Kerala government and opposition parties against the CAA on Monday in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan repeated his earlier statement that the CAA won’t be implemented in Kerala, and added that it was part of upholding the Constitution to which the government is responsible.
Thousands attended the Muslim Youth League’s day-night march which began at night on December 15 from Pookkottur, a main centre of the 1921 struggle against the British colonialists, and ended in Kozhikode the next day. Leader of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyathul Ulema AP Aboobaker Musliyar addressed a huge gathering at the civil rights conference organised at Malappuram on December 13. The Samastha Kerala Jamiyathul Ulema organized an enormous protest at the Kozhikode beach on December 14, in which leaders of the Samastha and the Muslim League attended.
Students in colleges across the state also protested against the discriminatory law as well as in solidarity with the students of the Jamia Millia and other universities. The Long March organized by the students of the Farook College in Kozhikode on Dec 12 was noted well. Protests are held in various colleges and universities, including the National Institute of Technology in Calicut.