Ruling LDF in Kerala to hold 'Satyagraha' against Centre's 'anti-people' policies on January 12

Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling LDF in Kerala will organise a 'Satyagraha' led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on January 12 to protest against the "anti-people" policies of the Centre, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said on Saturday.

He said the LDF will also hold three zonal level marches from February 1 to explain to the people the developmental activities taken up by the government.

The northern zonal march will begin from Kasaragod and conclude at Palakkad, while the central zone march will start from Pathanamthitta and end at Ernakulam. The southern march will be from Thrissur to Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

He said the CPI(M)’s mass organisation of students, youth and women will organise protests at all district headquarters on January 30, Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary, against the concerted attempts by the opposition UDF and BJP to "communalise" society.

Reiterating his stand that the CPI(M) will equally oppose the majority communalism of the RSS and Sangh Parivar and the Islamic State idea propagated by the Jamaat-e-Islami, Govindan said the UDF now has no qualms about allying with the very same forces it had opposed in the past.

He claimed that the UDF government led by Oommen Chandy in 2014 had filed an affidavit in the court that Jamaat-e-Islami is an extremist organisation created with the aim of forming an Islamic State.

Govindan said the CPI(M) does not believe in mixing faith with communalism. "The religious groups and a section of the media are spreading the lie that while opposing communalism, we are opposing religion and faith," he said.

"Opposition to RSS does not mean opposition to Hindu religion and the criticism of Jamaat-e-Islami is not against Muslims as a whole," he said.

Reacting to the arrest of tantri (chief priest) in the Sabarimala gold heist case, he said the party had along been saying that everyone involved should be punished.

Asked if the former Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran will also be arrested in the case, he said it was up to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the case under the supervision of the High Court.

"The CPI(M) had already made it clear that it will not protect anyone involved in the case and the gold stolen from the temple will be recovered," he said.