Police use water cannons as DYFI protest demands V.D. Satheesan's resignation
Police in Kerala resorted to water cannons on Friday to disperse a protest march organised by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) near the MLA office of V.D. Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition, in North Paravur. The marchers were demanding Mr. Satheesan's resignation over allegations that three Youth Congress workers arrested in a synthetic drug case were closely connected to his office.
The protest began around noon, with DYFI activists gathering at Kesari Junction, a busy intersection on the national highway, roughly a few hundred metres from Mr. Satheesan's office. As the marchers attempted to move towards the office, a large police contingent blocked their way with barricades. The activists, however, refused to turn back and tried to dismantle the barricades, prompting the police to deploy water cannons.
The confrontation stretched for over an hour, during which vehicular movement on the highway came to a standstill. Commuters were left stranded as both police and protesters locked horns. According to local reports, the area bore a tense look with slogans rising from both sides. After multiple warnings, the protesters gradually dispersed, and traffic was slowly restored.
The DYFI, the youth wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and an integral part of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), has been at the forefront of protests against Mr. Satheesan and the Congress party over the drug allegations. The arrests earlier this month of Muhammad Hussien, P.A. Abdul Salam, and P. Abbas, described as Youth Congress activists, have given fresh ammunition to the CPI(M) to target the opposition leadership.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan alleged on Thursday that the arrested men had been managing Mr. Satheesan's social media handles, including producing reels that glorified him. Govindan said that videos of Mr. Satheesan with the accused inside his office and at their residences had gone viral, exposing the “rot” within his political circle. The CPI(M) has accused the Congress of sheltering individuals with criminal backgrounds for political convenience.
In an unusual escalation, the United Democratic Front (UDF), the principal opposition coalition, hit back by accusing the LDF government of carrying out a campaign to suppress dissent online. The UDF claimed that several posts and news reports related to the arrests were being removed at the government's behest, describing it as an “undeclared social media emergency.” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought to counter this by posting screenshots on his own social media account, showing that his statements regarding one of the accused being close to Mr. Satheesan had been deleted from Facebook. He questioned who had sought the removal, implying that Mr. Satheesan or his team might have been responsible.
Mr. Satheesan, for his part, has denied any role in the removal of content. He stated that he had never requested Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to take down anything related to him or the state government. He dismissed the allegations as a diversionary tactic by the ruling front to deflect attention from the real issues.
The water cannon deployment has reignited the debate over the state's handling of protests. Civil liberties groups have often criticised the police for using force against demonstrators. The police, on the other hand, have maintained that the action was necessary to prevent a breach of peace and to ensure the safety of public property. No arrests have been reported in connection with Friday's protest.
The controversy is expected to be taken up in the upcoming session of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, with both the CPI(M) and the Congress gearing up for a showdown. The issue has also brought to the fore questions about the influence of social media in state politics and the alleged use of digital platforms to manage political narratives.
