Sabarimala row: Politically sensitive Kannur boils over

Police detain an activist amid demonstrations on Friday

Violence involving BJP-RSS and ruling CPI(M) workers rocked politically volatile Kannur district in north Kerala on Saturday with a number of houses and shops of rival leaders and workers being attacked over the Sabarimala issue.

Bombs were hurled at several places, including at the houses of CPI(M) MLA A N Shamseer in Madapeedikayil, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member V Muraleedharan at Vadiyil Peedikia and former Kannur district secretary of CPI(M) P Sasi at Thalassery past midnight, police said.

Bombs hurled at homes of political leaders

No one was injured in the attacks. The BJP MP's ancestral home was attacked hours after bombs were thrown at the homes of Shamseer and Sasi when leaders of the Marxist party and BJP-RSS were attending a peace meeting.

The attacks, which disrupted normal life, marked return of political violence on large-scale after a gap of over a year in the sensitive district. Kerala has been rocked by violent protests by BJP-RSS and right wing outfits after two women of menstruating age offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple on January 2.

Devotees enter the temple

Besides Kannur, Perambra in neighbouring Kozhikode, Malappuram and Adoor in Pathanamthitta, where the Ayyappa shrine is located, also witnessed a series of similar attacks and vandalism on Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday. State police chief Loknath Behera also sounded a state-wide alert.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar appeals for peace
Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Friday called on the people of Kerala to restrain from violence and wait for the Supreme Court's decision on the review petition on Sabrimala temple row. "It's a pity that Kerala, a state known for progress and communal harmony, is burning. I call on everyone to keep calm and restrain from acts of violence. We have to wait for the Supreme Court's decision on the review petition," Sri Sri said in a statement.

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