CPI State Secretary Condemns Police Action Against SFI Protesters in Kerala
CPI leader Binoy Viswam condemns police lathicharge on SFI activists, accusing Kerala's UDF government of cracking down on student protests over Vande Mataram.
Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Binoy Viswam has strongly condemned the police action against Students' Federation of India (SFI) activists, including female students, during a protest in Kerala. In a statement, he described the lathicharge as "cruel" and asserted that the state will not allow student protests to be suppressed.
Viswam said student movements in Kerala have a long tradition of raising voices against issues affecting education and the state. He accused the United Democratic Front (UDF) government, led by V.D. Satheesan, of cracking down on protesters to align with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre.
The CPI leader also linked the protest to the ongoing debate over the national song 'Vande Mataram'. He noted that during the national movement, leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had agreed that the later stanzas of the song, which contain anti-secular content, would not be treated as the national song. Viswam alleged that the recent amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, requiring the full rendition of the song, was introduced by Hindutva forces to marginalise religious minorities.
He called on all democratic and secular forces to resist such moves, while criticising the state government for its loyalty to the Union government by suppressing student dissent.