By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
Senior Congress party leader in Kerala and local legislator K Sivadasan Nair was attacked on the premises of the Aranmula Parthasarathy temple, 115kms from here yesterday.
Nair was assaulted by activists of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or national cadet corps.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is opposed to the upcoming international airport in the region in which Nair, as legislator representing Aranmula constituency, has been involved in.
Nair’s shirt was ripped off and he suffered bruises all over in the attack by the RSS activists.
The attack took place as the senior Congress leader had arrived to attend the inauguration of the Valla Sadhya, an annual festival of the temple offering sumptuous traditional meals to thousands of visitors marking the season of boat races.
The RSS activists prevented Nair from lighting the traditional lamp and launched an attack calling him a “traitor” and an agent of the private-sector airport which the legislator believes will most certainly change the economic profile of the region.
“There were around 25 men, most of them outsiders, who attacked me and ripped off my shirt. The police presence was thin and they failed to protect me,” Nair said from the hospital where he was admitted after the attack.
Speaker G Karthikeyan condemned the attack and asked Kerala Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan to constitute a probe into the incident. Eight people were arrested following the intervention of the director general of police (DGP) Balasubrahmaniam.
The Congress party has called for a daylong shutdown in the district today.
“They have even turned the temple into a venue for agitation and this is most deplorable. This is a place where I used to visit from my childhood years and you cannot prevent me from entering there,” Nair said.
Following the attack, the Congress party workers staged protests at several places and destroyed graffiti of the anti-airport campaigners, the Aranmula Heritage Village Protection Council.
They also pelted stones at the houses of the campaigners and staged a protest march to the local police station.
The Aranmula Palliyoda Seva Sanghom, which conducts the festival, also condemned the incident and sought the co-operation of all sections of people for the smooth conduct of the annual festival.