Thiruvananthapuram: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a shutdown in Thiruvananthapuram district Friday to protest the police baton-charge on its youth wing activists Thursday.

The police resorted to use of force after a scuffle broke out between the youth wing members of the BJP and a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-backed youth organisation in front of the state secretariat building here.

The BJP activists were on a sit-in, demanding the recall of a controversial class VII social science textbook.

"Yuva Morcha (youth wing)activists were sitting on a dharna (protest) when DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India) activists pelted stones at them. They were surprised to see that the police joined hands with the DYFI activists to beat us," said state BJP president P.K. Krishna Das.

"To protest the indiscriminate attack on our activists, several of whom are hospitalized, the BJP will observe a dawn to dusk shut-down in Thiruvananthapuram district. In other parts of the state, it would be just protest," added Das.

Das later met city police commissioner Revatha Chandrasekhar, who promised an inquiry into the incident.

Meanwhile, CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan lashed out at the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) for joining hands with the BJP to unleash violence in the state over a text book.

"The UDF and the BJP should refrain from indulging in violence. The attack unleashed by the Yuva Morcha activists on our youth wing activists was totally uncalled for. Both these parties are trying to create an unpleasant atmosphere in the state," said Vijayan.

 

Source : IANS