Kerala - Kannur   

Timely action defuses tension

KANNUR: Timely action taken by the police has defused tension at Koranpeedika, near Pariyaram, which has witnessed a series of clashes between workers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) recently.

The demolition squad arranged by the police on Tuesday dismantled the bus waiting shelters and flagpoles erected by both the parties to demonstrate their relative strength in the area.

There has been outbreak of hostilities between workers of the rival parties at Koranpeedika during the past few weeks. It was also the arena of leaders of the rival parties to incite party workers. The situation became serious after the destruction of nearly 30 flags of the CPI(M) last month by IUML workers. The retaliatory exercise of removing the flags of the rival parties continued till a peace meeting was held at the Pariyaram police station on April 29. The meeting, attended by CPI(M) and IUML leaders, decided to restore peace in the area. Peace, however, was short-lived as the rival workers resumed the attacks on party flags and flag posts on May 3.

The latest outbreak of tension was over the destruction of an IUML flagpole at nearby Poyil. In a retaliatory attack, the CPI(M) flagpole at Koranpeedika was uprooted and the CPI(M)-sponsored bus shelters in the area were given a coat of green paint by IUML activists. The police on Tuesday dismantled three bus shelters and flag posts of the rival parties. Another bus shelter constructed by the CPI(M) was dismantled by a group of IUML workers. The police registered a case against nearly 70 IUML workers in connection with the case.

All-party meet

An all-party meeting convened by Taliparamba Tahsildar P. Thampan reached an understanding that political parties could erect only one party flag each at Koranpeedika. Following opposition from the police, the meeting decided that the dismantled bus shelters, if re-constructed by the rival parties, should not carry the names of the parties and should be given the colour stipulated by the municipality.

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