Thiruvananthapuram:
There was uproar in Kerala Assembly today as Left leaders condemned the police action against students in Thiruvananthapuram yesterday.
Fifteen policemen and 20 activists of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), affiliated to the Left parties, were injured when they clashed with police here yesterday. They were protesting against Kerala's Congress-led UDF government's education policies, especially in self-financing medical colleges.
In the Assembly today, members of Left parties showed torn clothes of students and shouted slogans after the Speaker denied permission for an urgent discussion on the issue.
Yesterday, students took on the police outside the state secretariat. When the police caned them, they retreated into the compound of University College.
From inside the campus, they pelted stones. In response, the police used tear gas and entered the campus.
Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham told IANS that tear gas was used to control the student mob.
Things cooled down after the arrival of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders, including Left Democratic Front convenor Vaikom Viswan.
"(Chief Minister) Oommen Chandy is crossing limits and we will just not allow the police to take on students in this manner," warned Viswan, while pacifying the students.
This is the second time in less than a week that police used force to tackle student agitators.
The students say that colleges have been allowed to form their own guidelines for the admission process.
But the Oommen Chandy government says the admission guidelines are the same as they were during the previous Left regime.