Left observes hartal to protest torching of memorial

The dawn-to-dusk shut-down called by the Left in Alappuzha district today to protest the torching of the memorial of P Krishna Pillai, founder-leader of the Communist movement in Kerala, at Muhamma near here hit the normal life.
Miscreants had yesterday set ablaze the memorial and vandalised the bust of Pillai, founder-secretary of the Communist Party in Kerala when it was formed in 1937.
Pillai died after being bitten by a snake on August 19, 1948 while he was hiding in a thatched hut of a farm worker at Muhamma, which was later turned into a memorial and retained as such.

Shops remained closed and local buses, autorickshaws and taxies are keeping off the roads in all parts of the district. However, there was no blocking of the inter-district bus services passing through the area.
Police said no violence had been reported from anywhere.
The protest call was given jointly by the CPI, CPI(M) and other left parties, who blamed the Congress for vandalisation of the memorial, held in high reverence by Communists within and outside the state.
The Congress, however, rejected the charge.
A special team headed by K Padmakumar, IG, Central Range, has been formed to probe the incident.