Hartal at short notice, patients bear the brunt in Kerala

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Thiruvananthapuram: It was painful tales of people trapped at various places in the state that unravelled after the Left Democratic Front called a 12 hour hartal on Wednesday giving hardly a 12 hour notice. Besides the regular fare of violence, especially in Thir­uvananthapuram and the Malabar region,  life came to a standstill across the state.
Patients and bystanders in some of the specialty hospitals in the state capital found themselves stranded at the railway station.
The hartal demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister in the solar scam case made life even more miserable for Sujith, 10,  admitted to the Regional Cancer Centre. 
Awaiting a bone marrow replacement operation for which his parents had to find money, Sujith was left to fend for himself for quite some time as his father Sudhi, who shuttles between RCC and his native Chadayamang­alam, came to the railway station early in the day and was unable to reach the hospital.
Finally, thanks to the support of the police, he arrived in the hospital in a van after a long wait outside the station. K. Subramanian, a passenger who came by Netravathi Express to Kozhikode and was to proceed to Wayanad, had to spend  nearly the whole day at the railway station.
He learnt about the hartal only early in the day just before reaching Kozhikode. Matthias Gabrisch and Elise Vanderclausen, tou­­r­ists from Brussels, were stranded; but found the experience not all that bad.
“We reached the airport here from Rajast­han. We then got to know there was a strike. But then we were dropped at the railway station in a police van,” said Matthias.
State hit by hartal fury
Thiruvananthapuram: Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from various parts of the state  during the dawn to dusk hartal called by the LDF  demanding  a judicial probe into the solar scam and the resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
In Alappuzha,  Congress offices and police were attacked in different areas.  As many as 10 activists, including CPM district committee member P. Ganakumar and CPI’s Kayamkulam Assembly segment committee secretary A.A. Rahim, were injured in police lathicharge.

The LDF workers vent their anger on the flex boards of UDF leaders, put up in different parts of Kochi on Wednesday. — DC
In Irinjalakkuda, the hartal supporters manhandled Suresh, manger of the State Bank of India branch. They forcibly closed the branches of various banks and destroyed furniture at some places.  Violence was reported from Punnayurkulam, Puthukkad, Kaippamangalam, Thalikkulam where protestors blocked traffic in the morning. The Congress committee office at Kodungallur was stoned.  
In Kannur district, Congress offices were set ablaze or damaged in many places.  In Kozhikode district, a  Karanataka State Road Transport Corporation bus was stoned at Kunnamangalam. Its  glass panes were smashed. 
A meat stall at Malapparambu was  damaged, while at Mukkam activists of Democratic Youth Federation and police clashed.  A Congress office at Thiruvallur panchayat at Vadakara was destroyed by unidentified people on Tuesday midnight.  The Congress has called a hartal in the panchayat protesting against the arson.   
In Kannur,  Congress offices at Keezhara in Cheurkunnuvallur, Chokli, Vazahkkal near Thillenkary, and Keecheri were attacked.In Malappuram, an employee of the Thiruvali panchayat office was injured in stone throwing. 
Rights panel to act on violence
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala State Human Rights Commission has taken a serious view of the  hartal violence and said leaders of political parties will be held accountable if  the people made a complaint.  Rights panel chairman J.B. Koshy told DC  that he  could not  issue an official notice in this regard as the hartal was called suddenly on Tuesday.
Incidentally, the state has witnessed  365 hartals  since 2005. “The High Court and the Supreme Court had banned bandhs but now institutions, which want to function, are forcefully closed down. The public have the right to travel through roads, appear for their duty and open shops. It is illegal to disrupt educational and employment rights. The political parties, which organise hartals, will be responsible to pay compensation if there is damage to properties,”  he pointed out.
 

Foreigners stranded by hartal at the Ernakulam south railway station seeking a lift on Wednesday.
The commission had initiated a suo motu case against  the political parties which called a hartal on September 15 last year in protest against the diesel price hike.Meanwhile, the state has suffered badly as it has been subjected to as many as 365 hartals  since 2005.
The frequent hartals and strikes have crippled the tourism sector  in the district  which suffered a  two day disruption of normal life on Tuesday and Wednesday. 
N. Sreekumar, general secretary, All Kerala Houseboat Owners Association, said that the industry was facing a lean  season due to the harsh monsoon.  Former tourism minister, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had told the Kerala Assembly on June 20, 2006 that a consensus would be evolved among political parties to exempt the sector.
The draft of the Kerala Tourism Policy 2011 also stresses  it.   However, these proposals have made little headway. Now the association is gearing up to petition the tourism minister in this regard.