Copyright thehindu
The All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and All India Youth Federation (AIYF), both owing allegiance to the Communist Party of India (CPI), have upped the ante against the Kerala government over its decision to sign an MoU with the Union government for implementing PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) project in the State. AISF and AIYF workers held a protest march, raising the banner that ‘Kerala should not surrender to the BJP’, to the office of Education Minister V. Sivankutty here on Saturday. When the police stopped the march to Secretariat Annex 2, the protesters tried to push through the barricade. The police then used water cannons against the protesters. The protesters, however, refused to leave the venue and remained at the spot shouting slogans against the Minister. If the PM SHRI project is being implemented in Kerala without a discussion within the LDF, there will be protests against V. Sivankutty from the streets of Kerala, the leaders said. Both outfits had held protests in various districts on Friday as well. In Kannur, the protesters had burnt the effigy of the Minister. The decision to hold a march to the Minister’s office was part of intensifying the protest. Meanwhile, a march was taken out by the Fraternity Movement to the Secretariat on Saturday. The police put up barricades to block the protesters. However, when the demonstrators tried to climb over the barricades, the police used water cannons twice to disperse them. Fraternity State president Naeem Gafoor who inaugurated the march alleged that the LDF government had sold out the State to the RSS for ₹1,500 crore. The people of Kerala will not forgive it. Fraternity would not allow PM SHRI to be implemented in the State, he added.
