Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of resorting to dictatorial and repressive methods to snatch people’s land. Strongly condemning the police action against local people at A.R. Nagar in Malappuram, the opposition leader said instead of taking people into confidence, the government was using police force to acquire land forcibly. “Is Kerala under military rule?” he asked
Chennithala said the people who are protesting in the area have serious apprehensions about losing their land and places of dwelling because of the decision to alter the alignment for national highway. “They are being treated like enemies of the country. Women and children were being brutally assaulted. Several children were injured in today’s police action. The cops barged into the houses of people, ransacked the household goods and even attacked the inmates. Fear has gripped the entire area because of the terror unleashed by the police,” he said.
The opposition leader said the Pinarayi government had shown the same ruthlessness that was witnessed in Keezhattoor and Kuttupuram when land acquisition was carried out for national highway development. “The government is resorting to repressive measures to deal with the poor residents. It wants to forcibly take away their land in the name road development. We cannot allow this to happen,” he added. Chennithala said the government should stop the survey activities in Vengara with immediate effect and hold discussions with the local people to resolve the issue amicably.
