Kerala, KSU students, (the student wing of Congress) were on a 24-day-old PSC rank holders’ protest against nepotism and backdoor entries for government jobs turned violent on Thursday.
The Kerala police viciously beat up students of the Kerala Students Union KSU. On Tuesday morning, in Kannur, a big gathering of protesting PSC Last Grade candidates held a ‘shayana pradakshinam’ (rolling on the ground) in protest. Workers of Campus Front also launched a protest walk to Kalady University.
Across districts, rank holders held protests shouting slogans that they had worked hard to get their ranks, asking the government to open its eyes. Two Public Service Commission or PSC rank holders attempted suicide in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, namely Priju from Wayanad and Praveen Kumar from Thiruvananthapuram . People on the spot managed to stop their attempts, but their cause gained wider attention.
The police arrested the two men and let them free later. However, the protests turned violent as the police started to remove other protesters from the spot.
Over the past several days, various allegations of ‘backdoor appointments’ to government jobs have been sparking a row in Kerala.
Opposition parties too have been staging protests against the appointment of CPI(M) member MB Rajesh’s wife R Ninitha who was illegally appointed as Assistant Professor in the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. In Kochi, the police used water cannons against the Congress protesters.
At least five cops, several KSU activists injured.
Former Kerala Chief Minister and Congress leader Oommen Chandy visited the protesting Youth Congress activists and urged the government to heed to the demands of the students, asking for the expired PSC rank lists to be revived. He also questioned why the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had cancelled 147 rank lists disabling outstanding candidates to be unemployed.
Congress party condemns the violence to the students.
Every blow to our youth is a blow to our nation's future.
The brutality of Kerala govt is highly condemnable!Students of @ksunsui have been brutally beaten up by Kerala police for protesting against nepotism & backdoor entry to PSC posts.
Come what may – Congress will rage on. pic.twitter.com/BAz04zelHM
— Congress (@INCIndia) February 18, 2021