The indefinite siege, beginning from Monday, August 12, is aimed at securing the resignation of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who is clinging to power ‘in utter disregard of all democratic norms and traditions’.

A readily obliging Central Government has dispatched 20 companies – each with 100 men - of paramilitary forces to tackle the LDF’s unique protest blockade, the first of its kind in Kerala’s political history. A holiday has been declared for all schools in the Thiruvananthapuram city limits on August 12 and 13. Besides, police have set up parallel offices for ministers in the State Assembly complex. The Government may also clamp Section 144 of the CrPC on the city to thwart the siege. It is deliberately ratcheting up tension by taking provocative steps which amount to using a sledge hammer to swat a fly.

A determined LDF, which has refused to be cowed down by the Government’s intimidatory tactics, is straining every nerve to ensure that the ‘people’s movement’ won’t be suppressed. The Front is planning to mobilize around one lakh volunteers from all the districts, with the CPI(M) itself intending to deploy 75,000 party activists and other constituents 25,000 for the first phase of the siege from August 12 to 18.

The first day of the siege will feature all national leaders of the LDF, including CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy and Janata Dal(S) president and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, among others. State CPI(M) leaders VS Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan are expected to camp at the siege venue to coordinate the activities.

The CPI(M) is keen on erasing memories of the failure of its earlier struggles like the land agitation, the agitation against the contributory pension scheme launched by pro-left service organizations and the DYFI-sponsored marches to the secretariat.

An awesome responsibility devolves on the LDF in view of the fact that the UDF Government won’t scruple at anything to ensure the defeat of the secretariat blockade. The LDF in general and the CPI(M) in particular will have to see that the siege remains peaceful. The LDF must desist from giving any excuse for the police and the paramilitary forces, deployed in full strength to prevent ‘violence’, to intervene. Also, attempts to prevent ‘even a single man from entering the secretariat’, as announced by LDF convener Vaikom Vishwan, could prove counterproductive. Such tactics may result in the LDF losing the groundswell of public support, which it had gained in the wake of the solar scam.

The LDF strategy to prevent government employees from attending office could also attract legal retaliation in the form of a ban on or a declaration of the siege as illegal. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the LDF exercise utmost vigil against any efforts to go over the top. The idea should be to keep up the pressure without resort to use of force on its part.

Reports have it that paramilitary forces would be deployed in six cities, including the state capital, and Kannur. It is the first time in the history of Kerala that the services of paramilitary forces have been requisitioned to deal with an agitation. Normally, these forces are deployed to tackle natural calamities and as a disaster management measure.

That the Government’s unprecedented steps to tackle a ‘people’s movement’ have raised eyebrows even in the ruling coalition circles is clear from a telling comment made by Government chief whip and KC(M) MLA P C George. Participating in a TV channel discussion on the secretariat blockade, George said he was against the use of paramilitary forces to meet a ‘peaceful agitation’. George said it is not as if India and Pakistan are about to go to war! He also countered the argument of a state minister who participated in the debate that it is not possible for an elected government to remain a silent spectator when an organized attempt is being made to ‘take control of the secretariat’ with a counter question. “Do you think such a move on the part of the LDF would have the approval of the people who are closely watching the situation? If the secretariat is damaged, a fear voiced by the minister, the people of Kerala are mature enough to draw their own conclusions, and the Opposition will have to pay a heavy price, he pointed out.

Significantly, the Kerala High Court has refused to pass an interim order on a petition seeking to prevent the LDF from taking out processions or staging dharnas around the secretariat premises from August 12. (IPA Service)