Thiruvananthapuram: CPM state secretariat on Saturday condemned the Union govt’s crackdown on demonstrations demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), including the detention of several senior party leaders heading to a CJP protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.In a statement, the secretariat said the national capital was witnessing an atmosphere “akin to the Emergency” and accused Delhi Police of acting like “RSS-BJP goons”.Those detained included CPM general secretary M A Baby, politburo member and former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, state secretary M V Govindan, politburo member A Vijayaraghavan and several central committee members. Leaders of the party’s women’s, student and youth wings were also detained while attempting to join the protest at Jantar Mantar. Several MPs were taken into custody, the statement said.CPM MP John Brittas alleged that Vijayan, 82, was driven around Delhi in a police vehicle for nearly four hours after being detained near Kerala House, without being allowed to take his medicines on time. Brittas said Vijayan, former minister K N Balagopal and he were detained around 10.30am and taken to Mandir Marg police station only at 2.20pm. He alleged that police disregarded Vijayan’s age and health condition despite repeated requests to take them to a police station instead of keeping them in the vehicle. Brittas said Vijayan was exhausted and experiencing discomfort by the time they reached the station.“We were put in a small car and made to travel through the streets of Delhi for several hours… He has several health issues and needs to take his medicine on time…They behaved very badly with us,” Brittas said.The party alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were pushing the country towards unrest to protect the CEC. It questioned the deployment of over 50,000 police and paramilitary personnel and the imposition of prohibitory orders, which it said had created a lockdown-like situation in Delhi.Mobile internet services were suspended, 57 Metro stations were closed and trains from Kerala and elsewhere were terminated before reaching Delhi. Describing the detention of CJP leader Abhijit Dipke and others aboard a flight as “barbaric”, the secretariat warned the govt could not suppress peaceful protests through an “iron fist”, and that the country had won freedom and defended democracy by overcoming far greater repression.The party has called for widespread demonstrations and public meetings across the state to protest against the crackdown and detentions in Delhi. (With inputs from PTI)
