Congress strike paralyses Kerala

Normal life was affected throughout Kerala in the wake of an 18-hour strike called by the Congress-led opposition to protest against former excise minister M V Raghavan's arrest.

The strike began on Tuesday midnight.

Shops and commercial establishments remained closed. The KSRTC operated short-distance services in convoys. In cities, taxis, autorickshaws, private buses and cars were off the road. However, train and air services were not affected.

Educational institutions remained closed throughout the state, and government offices, including the state secretariat, reported thin attendance.

Raghavan, a Communist Marxist Party leader, was arrested on July 3 in connection with the Koothuparamba police firing in which five Marxist-led Democratic Youth Federation of India workers were killed on November 25, 1994.

About a dozen police personnel were injured in different parts of the state when strike supporters threw stones at police parties who were removing road blocks on Wednesday morning.

Former chief minister and leader of the opposition A K Antony led black badge-wearing MPs, MLAs and leaders of the United Democratic Front constituents, who were protesting at the state secretariat in Trivandrum.

Antony wanted to know if the Marxist party would register a case of murder against West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu during whose rule 500 Youth Congress workers were killed by the police. Likewise, would they arrest Marxist veteran E M S Namboodiripad for the death of several people in police firings when he was chief minister in 1957?

According to the police, more than 25 state transport corporation buses, private vehicles and trucks were damaged in stone-throwing in Trivandrum, Chengamanadu (Ernakulam), Palakkad and Thodupuzha (Idukki district).

Six Youth Congress workers were arrested in Trivandrum. Meanwhile, the Congress-led opposition in the Kerala Assembly boycotted the House for the third day over the Raghavan issue.

Unlike the past two days, the opposition members did not come to the Assembly on Wednesday in view of the strike call.

Despite the boycott, speaker M Vijayakumar went through the normal business of the House.

After the question hour, government chief whip T K Hamza urged the speaker to adjourn the House early in view of former minister P S Sreenivasan's death on Tuesday night.

The speaker adjourned the House after passing demands for agricultural grants without discussion.

UNI