KOCHI: Thousands of CPM activists on Monday staged a protest in front of the Kerala High Court against its verdict sentencing party leader M V Jayarajan to six months’ imprisonment in a contempt of court case. There was no slogan shouting or speeches by any of the party leaders. The activists squatted on the roadside near the High Court, holding banners and placards that read, “stop judicial excesses”, “independent judiciary was attained through struggle and not through any judgment”, “people are supreme in democracy”, “when all are equal before law, how can certain persons become worms” etc. CPM politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, LDF convenor Vaikom Viswam, former ministers Thomas Issac, S Sharma and PK Sreemathy, P Ramakrishnan MLA, CPM district secretary M V Govindan were among the leaders who participated in the protest. Kodiyeri told ‘Express’ that the protest was only a symbolic struggle against the High Court, without disturbing its functioning. “We will go ahead with the campaign against the court decision to ban wayside meetings. The party is taking up this challenge as the government itself has not appealed in the Supreme Court against its verdict that upheld the Kerala High Court ban on wayside meetings,” he said. The verdict against wayside meetings should be reviewed, he said. Kodiyeri noted that it was the previous LDF government that had brought in a draft legislation to nullify the High Court order against holding public meetings on roadsides. “Roadsides had been for decades venues of discussion and expression of dissent about contemporary issues and government decisions. But, the High Court has taken away the right of the people to conduct such meetings. Many festivals, including Attukal Pongala, is being held on the roadside,” he said, adding that all the issues have to be discussed seriously. Stating that the protest had been conducted in a peaceful manner, Balakrishnan said: “More than 15,000 activists participated in the protest. We are conducting this struggle in a peaceful manner without shouting any slogans.”Lashing out at the Chief Minister, he said Oommen Chandy, who himself is a politician, had not demanded the removal of the wordings in the court order that said “political parties are inevitable evils”. Challenging Chandy for his statement that the protest was against judiciary, Kodiyeri said it was the congress that had agitated when the Allahabad court came out against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. CPM activists, mainly from Ernakulam, Kottayam and Alappuzha, took part in the protest that started at 8 am and concluded at 2 pm.
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