TRIVANDRUM, 16 November 2004 — The daylong shutdown strike called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-led Hindu Aikya Vedi protesting Kanchi priest Jayendra Saraswati’s arrest disrupted normal life in Kerala yesterday.
Public transport system was worst affected while most of the shops, businesses, educational institutions remained closed. Stray incidents of violence were reported from several places in north Kerala.
The activists also clashed with the police and workers of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and National Development Front (NDF), an extremist front, at a few places. However, rail and air traffic were not disrupted. Taxis and autorikshaws plied without much hindrance with the police tightening security. Several activists were taken into preventive custody.
Police have offered protection to those who wanted to venture out. However all education institutions, including the private sector, were given holiday and the attendance at the government offices were reduced.
Fearing attacks, the state-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) suspended its services for the day. Mainstream political parties have strongly protested the Aikya Vedi’s call for shutdown saying Kerala state and its people have nothing to do with the arrest of Saraswati in a murder case in Tamil Nadu.
This is the second shutdown this month in Kerala. The unions have called for a motor strike for tomorrow (Wednesday).
According to the reports, the shutdowns along with unbridled holidays have wreaked havoc with academic and economic life of Kerala.
The city-based Technopark, where most of the information technology units are housed, is losing an estimated 10 million rupees during every shutdown. With Kerala, especially Cochin, emerging as a favorite IT destination, the state government is trying to reach a consensus with the opposition to declare IT industry as an essential service where shutdown is banned.
The state school children are taking their half yearly exams next month but the schools had, in this academic year, worked only for 90 days. Besides two more shutdowns scheduled for the remaining fortnight, six public holidays (all of them religious holidays) a second Saturday and four Sundays, the non-working days have totaled 16 days.
Debt-Ridden Woman Rower Found Dead
Shobhini Rajan, 22, India’s top woman rower and national champion since 1997, was found dead at her residence in Alleppey on Sunday. Shobhini, who has 30-odd national and international medals in her tally, was reportedly not sufficient enough to sustain her life.
Shobhini, the national champion, received an injury five months ago, knocked at almost all doors, including the state chief minister’s, for help. But she failed to get any response. Daily wage farm laborer, C. V. Rajan, had to mortgage his five-cent land for a Rs. 50,000 loan from a local bank for treating his daughter’s backbone ailment.
Police said Shobhini had consumed poison but they could not recover any suicidal notes.
Shobhini had participated in Beijing’s Asian Rowing Championship in 2001 and finished fourth in Busan Asian Games. She was selected to represent Kerala in the Pune open rowing championship slated for February next year. According to Kerala Sports Council (KSC) sources, she was awaiting the state’s cash awards worth Rs. 250,000 for her performance in various events since 2002.
Ironically she got an invitation to represent the state for national championships in Pune (Feb. 10-15, 2005) just a day before she took the extreme step. “It is a national shame that a budding career is nipped in the bud,” her Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach G. S. Nair said. “Definitely she was one of the best rowing stars of Asia. It is a real loss to the sport world,” Nair who coached her in the local SAI center since 1997, added.
Wallowing in poverty and penury, she was recommended for a government job two years ago. As her suicide is snowballing into a major controversy, the political leadership and sports mandarins are busy passing the buck.
