Protests raged against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Friday condemning the hanging of a Jai Sriram banner from the municipal building as part of the BJP’s victory celebrations.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) kick-started the protest and it was soon taken up by the Youth Congress. Tension gripped the municipal office premises as the protesters tried to break the police cordon.
In a tit-for-tat gesture, the DYFI unfurled a tricolour from atop the municipal building having the same shape and size of the BJP’s controversial Jai Sriram banner, and shouted “down with communalism, long live secularism.”
The attempts of the police to stop the DYFI protesters failed as they sneaked into the municipal building and staged a sit-in there. “This is not an RSS office; this is a municipal office. This is not Gujarat; this is Kerala,” they said.
DYFI district secretary T.M. Sasi said that they would oppose any move to destroy the country’s democracy and secular values. He said the Hindu radicals were raising communal symbols widely in North Indian States where the BJP was in power. “But this is Kerala, and its people will not tolerate the Sangh Parivar actions meant to destroy its communal peace and secular fabric,” he said.
Youth Congress district president T.H. Firos Babu said the BJP was trying to destroy the people’s peaceful co-existence in Palakkad. “The BJP has insulted not only the Constitution, but also the people of Palakkad,” he said.
The protesters read out the Constitution, re-affirming their commitment to uphold its secular values. Several Youth Congress protesters were injured in a police lathicharge.
Meanwhile, the police filed multiple cases in connection with the banner issue. A case was registered against the DYFI activists for unfurling the tricolour in an improper manner following a complaint by the BJP.
A case was filed against dozen-odd BJP workers for hanging the banner from the municipal building, following a complaint by the municipal secretary. The CPI(M) too had filed a complaint against the BJP.
