Communally sensitive localities remained on edge after the targeted political killings in Alappuzha put Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) workers at loggerheads for the second consecutive day on Monday.
The tense situation prompted State Police Chief (SPC) Anil Kant to restrict public protests and the use of loudspeakers. Mr. Kant has cancelled the leave of officers. He has asked officers from non-uniformed units to ready themselves for rapid law and order deployment.
Law and order officers should be at their posts round-the-clock. The police have posted pickets in trouble spots.
Surveillance
They have placed BJP and SDPI offices under protective surveillance. Plainclothes squads were afoot to execute pending arrest warrants and detain instigators. The police were monitoring social media platforms for incendiary messages.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M) said two religiously opposed fanatical forces aimed to instigate a communal conflagration in the State. They were using social media to spread hate and falsehoods.
The forces behind the fraught situation were attempting to punch holes in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s law and order record. For one, BJP national president J. P. Nadda had called Kerala a lawless State. Congress leaders echoed the falsehood, it said.
The brazenly communal outfits responsible for the tit-for-tat political slayings in Alappuzha had attempted to undermine the State’s storied secular tradition. The fascist entities were mutually symbiotic. The CPI(M) said such outfits sought to divide society on religious lines for political dividends.
Peace meet today
Meanwhile, the government postponed the inter-party peace meeting in Alappuzha to Tuesday after the BJP raised objections about the timing. BJP State president K. Surendran said his party would not turn its back on peace initiatives. However, the police were highly partisan and politically prejudiced against the BJP. They favoured the SDPI, he said.
Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had outsourced police station functioning to local CPI(M) satraps.
The government posted complaint officers who did the CPI(M)’s bidding. Law and order officers ignored the orders of their supervisors with impunity and listened only to party bosses.
The circumstances had led to the decline of law and order. Mr. Satheesan asked the government to rein in RSS and SDPI outfits to ensure lasting communal peace.
