BJP calls for strike across Kerala after activist murder

Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP has called a statewide hartal from 6 am to 6 pm on Thursday in protest against the killing of party worker Ramith in Pinarayi village in Kannur on Wednesday.

BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan said that essential services like hospitals, medical stores, milk supply and newspapers will be exempted from the hartal. Those going to attend funerals and marriages, Sabarimala pilgrims and hajis and passengers to airports will not blocked, he said.

The booth-level committees of BJP held protest marches across the state on Wednesday evening. Mr Rajasekharan alleged that the CPM’s brutality had exceeded all limits which was proved by Ramith’s killing in broad daylight on Wednesday.

"The killing happened near Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s home. In 2002, Ramith’s father Uthaman, a BMS activist, who was driving a bus, was pulled out of it and hacked to death. Now the only remaining member in the family is the mother of the slain youth," he said.

He also recalled that when Uthaman's funeral procession was going on, CPM activists hurled a bomb killing a 70-year-old woman and a jeep driver Shihab. He alleged that the CPM did not want any rival parties to exist in Pinarayi village.

"The CPM is facing a difficult time during Mr Vijayan’s tenure as chief minister and they are trying to overcome it by killing innocent people. The killings have the silent blessings of the CPM top brass,” he added. He asked the CPM to stop its atrocities and said the conscience of Malayalis should awaken against the killings.