The day after the aborted ‘Kiss of Love’ protest against moral policing in Kochi on Sunday, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that the police shielded the “communalists” who unleashed violence.
Vijayan said in a Facebook post that the police adopted amazing double standards in dealing with the kiss protesters and with those who had come armed to sabotage the event. It was the violence by the anti-protest activists that had created a tense situation at the Marine Drive venue, he said.
He noted that when someone adopts a novel way of protest there could be supporters and opponents to the method. Both are allowed in our country. But the police tried to protect those who had come to sabotage the agitation with weapons and provocative slogans. It was with the “full support” of the police that the anti-protest activists, who included communalists, who went on a rampage, Vijayan alleged.
However, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Monday claimed that the police had not made any mistake in dealing with the situation. Only routine crowd-control measures had been taken, he said and asserted that the government would not block any form of protest as long as it remained peaceful.
Meanwhile, Kochi Police Commissioner claimed that the police had not resorted to baton-charge. The police had only got the crowds dispersed in view of the possibility of confrontations and violence, he said.