Tense scenes as SFI stages march to Secretariat in Kerala

Tense scenes were witnessed during a Secretariat march by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) on Wednesday in protest against the police lathicharge of its activists opposing alleged saffronisation of universities.

The activists, led by SFI State president P.S. Sanjeev, carrying plaintain stems, reached the Secretariat around 1 p.m. but were blocked by the police using barricades. The activists shouted slogans and tried to climb over the barricades. They also clashed with the police, leading to the use of water cannons in an attempt to disperse them but to no avail.

The police resorted to a lathicharge when the situation seemed to go out of hand. Some activists sustained minor injuries.

Senior CPI(M) leaders reached the spot to pacify the activists who were protesting the police action during an SFI march to the University of Kerala headquarters on Tuesday in protest against the rendition of the full version of Vande Mataram during the National Sports Day celebrations organised by the university.

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan in a social media post alleged that the UDF government was cracking down on democratic protests. The police lathi-charged the students for the second consecutive day. A lathi hit Mr. Sanjeev on his chest, and he had to be admitted to hospital. He continued to have difficulty in breathing. This was a deliberate attack on Mr. Sanjeev, he said.

The Chief Minister’s and the Home Minister’s defence of the police action indicated the government’s intention of cracking down on the protests instead of responding democratically to the students’ demands, Mr. Vijayan said.