The Kerala Students Union (KSU) on November 7, 2023 staged protests in various parts of Kerala against the police lathicharge against some of its members.
Some educational institutions declared a holiday due to the strike called by the KSU, the student wing of the Congress.
A few KSU activists took out a protest march to the Secretariat in the heart of the State capital and tried to remove the barricades set up there, following which water cannons were used by the police in an attempt to disperse them. Thereafter, the protesters gathered there for some time, raised slogans against the police and then dispersed.
A protest march by KSU activists to the Adoor police station in Pathanamthitta district was dispersed by the police by reportedly resorting to lathicharge.
The KSU had on November 6 called a State-wide strike in educational institutions after some of its members, including a woman, were injured in a lathicharge by the police.
The incident occurred when they carried out a protest march to the residence of Higher Education Minister R. Bindu.
The injured woman KSU activist told media that the police allegedly resorted to lathicharge after the protesters questioned why male officers were pushing around female KSU workers.
"They purposely and deliberately hit me on the nose with a stick. It was a strong blow. It was not inadvertent, it was a targeted blow," she alleged.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala termed the previous day's police action against the KSU activists 'unjustified' and 'unpardonable'.
The KSU had held a protest march to the Minister's residence over the students' union election results of government-aided Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur where initially its nominee was declared as chairman.
Subsequently, on a demand by the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the votes were recounted and a nominee of the left-wing student organisation was declared chairman.
The Sree Kerala Varma College had witnessed dramatic scenes on November 1, 2023 as the KSU alleged sabotage by the Left students' organisation during the recounting of votes to ensure the victory of its chairman candidate in the election.
