Kerala CM calls for all-party meet, promotion of peace amid mob violence
Thiruvananthapuram: Amid violent incidents following the slaying of an Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) worker in Thiruvananthapuram, a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-RSS leaders on Monday agreed to support initiatives to promote peace and shun violence.
The meeting called by Vijayan also decided to convene an all-party meet here on August 6.
Briefing reporters after the meeting in which BJP state President, Kummanam Rajasekharan, former Union minister, O Rajagopal, MLA, and RSS leader P Gopalankutty and CPI(M) state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, participated, Vijayan said similar meetings will also be held at Kannur, Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Condemning the recent violent incidents in parts of the state, he said political parties should be vigilant and initiate steps to create awareness among their cadre to shun violence.
Though earlier peace meetings had decided that party offices, homes of party workers would not be attacked, it was unfortunate that a BJP office and house of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan were targeted in the violence in the state capital here, Vijayan said.
"Houses of several councillors were also damaged. This should not have happened. We need to be vigilant against such incidents and ensure that it does not happen again," he said.
Rajasekharan, who spoke to reporters separately, said BJP and RSS would provide all support to the government initiatives to restore peace.
"We need to have peace in the state. But we also want political parties, religious and communal outfits to have the freedom to engage in their party activities," he said and asked the government to provide the necessary atmosphere for it. Police should be impartial, he said.
A report from Kottayam said stones were on Monday thrown at the district committee office of the Communist Party of India's (Marxist) (CPI-M) trade union wing CITU while a petrol bomb was hurled at the RSS district office in fresh incidents of violence in Kottayam town.
The BJP district unit alleged that CPI(M) workers hurled a petrol bomb at the RSS district office, causing extensive damage to the building situated at Thirunakkara in the town.
They slammed police for not taking steps to provide adequate security cover for RSS-BJP offices in the town.
Window panes of the CITU office were damaged in the attack believed to be carried out by a gang of five men who reached there on three motorcycles at 2.30 am, police said.
They hurled stones at the office, police said.
Condemning the incident, the CPI(M) Kottayam district secretary V N Vasavan alleged that BJP-RSS activists were behind the attack.
On Sunday, Kerala Governor P Sathasivam had summoned the chief minister and DGP Loknath Behara to ascertain the action taken by the government following the killing of the RSS worker.
The chief minister had assured him that he would be meeting BJP and RSS state leaders.
Vijayan and the DGP met the governor separately after they were summoned by the Raj Bhavan following recent violent incidents including the murder of the 34-year-old Rajesh on July 29.
The state had been witnessing a serious of violent incidents allegedly involving BJP-RSS and CPI-M workers with the capital city rocked by incidents of attacks on houses of rival partymen in the past few days.
The state BJP office was vandalised on July 28 while stones were thrown at the house of CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son Bineesh Kodiyeri here.
Rajesh was hacked to death by a history-sheeter-led gang here on Saturday. His left arm was chopped off and there were several injuries all over his body.
The BJP had called for a dawn-to-dusk state-wide hartal on Sunday to protest the incident.
Seven persons had been arrested so far in connection with the RSS worker's slaying.
On Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the chief minister and voiced concern over attacks on political workers in Kerala and said political violence was unacceptable in a democracy.
