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Extraordinary police protection, an effective ban on black flags and preventive arrest of workers of Opposition parties now mark the itinerary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has been facing protests over new taxes proposed in the recent Budget.
Over the last two weeks, several workers of the Congress and its ally Indian Union Muslim League have been detained, many of them taken into custody from their houses, in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur, where Vijayan had attended public events. The detained men were released only after Vijayan — who had once publicly taken pride in his past days of “walking amidst the swords and daggers of the RSS” — moved to another location.
Last week in Kottayam, a Youth Congress worker, who was on his way to attend the funeral of a relative, was detained till the evening.
Vijayan, who has Z-plus security cover, normally moves along with a battery of 30 to 40 policemen, including commandos. Now, around 100 policemen including regular security personnel, give cover to the Kerala CM.
On Monday, around 900 policemen were pressed into duty in Kasaragod where Vijayan had a slew of programmes.
The unofficial “ban” on black is sometimes taken to extreme lengths. On Sunday, the police removed a black flag put up as a mark of mourning over the death of former CPI(M) legislator C P Kunju, before Vijayan turned up to express his condolences at his home. At another function at a college in Kozhikode, attending students were advised not to wear black masks, while black bags were not allowed into the auditorium.
This bar-on-black when it comes to Vijayan has been around for some time now. Last year, when gold smuggling scandal accused Swapna Suresh hurled fresh allegations against the CM and his family, and parties hit the streets demanding his resignation with black flags, many Opposition workers were put in preventive custody. At the time too, the police would keep a watch to ensure nobody sprung up around Vijayan wearing black masks, which were then common as Covid-19 precaution.
On Sunday, Congress state president and Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran said the party would take legal remedy against the detention of its workers. “These steps show there is an undeclared Emergency in Kerala. The government is infringing upon fundamental rights, including the freedom of movement and to dress as per one’s choice, provided under the Constitution. The CPI(M) takes pride in its tradition of holding protests. Now, Vijayan is even afraid of black flags,” he said.
However, the Congress is unlikely to get quick relief. On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court dismissed a plea which sought that arrest and detention over waving of black flags in protest be held “illegal” and “unconstitutiona”. The petition also sought compensation for those booked for waving black flags at Vijayan in protest last year.
Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said Vijayan had become a “laughing stock” among the people of Kerala. “The CM has become a coward who hides behind policemen,’’ the Congress leader said.
However, senior CPI(M) leader and the party’s Kannur district secretary, M V Jayarajan, defended Vijayan, going so far as to claim that “under the guise of protest, Congressmen are trying to annihilate the CM”. “They have suicide squads to target the Chief Minister. These are not protests of any sort, but an attempt to murder the CM. We know how a suicide squad targeted former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi,” Jayarajan said.
He added that the Congress had fallen back on such protests after Vijayan returned as CM for a second consecutive term, breaking the trend of incumbent governments being voted out in Kerala. “The Congress realises that it cannot marshall the public as it has lost the people’s support. It knows it will not return to power even in the next elections of 2026. Hence, they are desperately engaging in these types of desperate attacks,’’ he said.
People wearing black have also been known to be removed from public meetings addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last year in August, after Congress leaders dressed in black clothes held a protest against price rise and unemployment, Modi, while addressing an event in Haryana, said: “On August 5, there was an attempt to spread black magic mentality. Those who think that by wearing black clothes, their period of despair will end are unaware that irrespective of the black magic and their belief in superstition, the public’s trust will never be restored in them.”
