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| CPIM State Secretary Com. Pinaryai Vijayan leading the rally on Harthal day in Thiruvananthapuram |
The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala to press for a total ban on production, sale and use of Endosulfan in the country was total and peaceful.
The hartal hit normal life across the State with vehicles, barring two-wheelers and a few four-wheelers, staying off the road and shops and commercial establishments downing their shutters. None of the markets in the State functioned. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operated only skeletal services, but there was no disruption in train services. But for a few isolated incidents, no major instance of hartal-related violence was reported from any part of the State.
Marches in all districts
Activists of various LDF constituents and trade unions took out marches in all districts in the morning. In a sad development, former Kottayam district panchayat president K.P. Sugunan collapsed and died even as he was participating in a public meeting in the town.
There were some instances of forcible closure of Central government offices. The ruling alliance had exempted two-wheelers, milk and newspaper supply, and hospitals from the purview of the hartal. The LDF had announced the hartal to coincide with the conclusion of the Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants at Geneva. The news of the conditional global ban on Endosulfan, which came even as the hartal wound to a close, brought cheer to the green and LDF activists. They held demonstrations in different parts of the State hailing the decision.
Describing the Geneva decision to ban Endosulfan as a vindication of the strong stand that the Kerala government had taken on the issue, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said that it showed what determined popular will could achieve even in the face of strong resistance from the powers that be.
CPIM - CPI hails ban on Endosulfan
The State CPI(M) and CPI have welcomed the Stockholm Convention decision to ban Endosulfan globally. In separate statements here on Friday, CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI State unit secretary C.K. Chandrappan termed the decision a severe blow to the UPA government at the Centre.
While the former doubted whether the Centre would do all that was necessary to enforce the ban, the latter wanted the Centre to compensate Endosulfan victims and take steps for their rehabilitation. Mr. Vijayan said it was disturbing to note that the UPA government was trying to secure concessions after failing in its bid to block the global ban on production and use of Endosulfan. Describing the ban decision a matter of great joy for all those who had fought for it, he said this was also the moment to sympathise with the UPA government for the negative stand it had taken on the issue.
Mr. Chandrappan said that the Geneva summit decision to ban Endosulfan had exposed the games played by the Congress and the UPA government on the issue despite the Centre being in possession of several study reports proving the massive devastation caused by the killer pesticide.
In Kerala, around 500 lives had been lost and thousands had sustained congenital abnormalities on account of the use of the pesticide. Despite all this, the Centre's attempt was to block a global ban on Endosulfan on flimsy grounds. All political forces, except the Congress, had come forward to press for a ban and the credit for the victory at Geneva should go to all of them, the CPI leader said.
(Courtesy : The Hindu)
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