Thiruvananthapuram: Bharatiya Janata Party leader P.P. Vava was among many injured in clashes during a protest at the Kerala capital on Wednesday. The protest was in connection with the students’ strike at the Kerala Law Academy, raising multiple demands. Vava is the state vice-president of the BJP.
The students of the Kerala Law Academy, a privately managed college, have been on strike demanding the resignation of the college principal and television personality, Lakshmi Nair.
Students have also complained against her alleged high-handedness and accused her of racial abuse, a charge she has denied.
A march by BJP activists from Peroorkada to the law college turned violent, prompting police to use water cannons, tear gas shelling and a cane charge. The BJP had called for an education strike in Thiruvananthapuram district on Wednesday.
Police were also apparently provoked by a flex board kept by the roadside, which showed a visual of an assistant commissioner of police who had led a cane charge against the protestors on Tuesday.
Several people were injured in the violence, and some police vehicles were also damaged.
Communist Party of India Marxist state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan alleged that the students had fallen into the trap of the BJP.
The CPM’s student wing, the Students’ Federation of India, had called off their strike after the college management agreed to some conditions, while other student organisations are continuing their stir.
